woeful

adjective

woe·​ful ˈwō-fəl 

variants or less commonly woful

1

: full of woe : grievous

woeful prophecies

2

: involving or bringing woe

3

: lamentably bad or serious : deplorable

woeful ignorance

woefully

ˈwō-f(ə-)lē 

adverb

woefulness

ˈwō-fəl-nəs 

noun

Synonyms

• aching
• agonized
• anguished
• bemoaning
• bewailing
• bitter
• deploring
• doleful
• dolesome
• dolorous
• funeral
• grieving
• heartbroken
• lamentable
• lugubrious
• mournful
• plaintive
• plangent
• regretful
• rueful
• sorrowful
• sorry
• wailing
• weeping

Examples of woeful in a Sentence

The puppy had woeful eyes.

The student's grades were woeful.

Recent Examples on the Web

Despite a woeful regular season in his return from a second career Tommy John surgery, Buehler showed signs of life at the end of the campaign. —Jack Harris, Los Angeles Times, 1 Nov. 2024

Danilo has looked particularly out of sorts and was repeatedly caught out of position by Stuttgart’s relentless attacks, while also misplacing passes and losing possession in a woeful performance. —Adam Digby, Forbes, 23 Oct. 2024

During that stretch, his average against fastballs was a woeful .146. —Jack Harris, Los Angeles Times, 28 Sep. 2024

Worse, the local government green-lighted the Coliseum’s pricey Mount Davis extension—a woeful plastic surgery that obscured the rolling Oakland hills behind the outfield wall—to bring back the NFL’s Raiders. —Dan Bernstein, Sportico.com, 26 Sep. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

woeful

adjective

woe·​ful ˈwō-fəl 

1

: full of woe

a woeful tale

2

: involving or bringing woe

a woeful occurrence

3

: pitifully bad

woeful ignorance

woefully

-f(ə-)lē 

adverb

woefulness

-fəl-nəs 

noun