dolorous

adjective

do·​lor·​ous ˈdō-lə-rəs 

also

ˈdä- 

: causing, marked by, or expressing misery or grief

dolorously adverb

dolorousness noun

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The Painful History of Dolorous

If you’ve ever studied a Romance language, you’ve likely run into words related to Latin dolor, meaning "pain" or "grief." Indeed, Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, and Romanian all refer to pain using descendants of dolor. English (which despite its many Latinate terms is categorized as a Germanic language) has dolor to thank for dolorous. When the word first appeared, it was linked to physical pain; as the British surgeon John Banister wrote in 1578, "No medicine may prevail … till the same dolorous tooth be … plucked up by the roots." The "causing pain" sense of dolorous coexisted with the "sorrowful" sense for centuries, but (to the dolor, perhaps, of some) its use is now rare.

Synonyms

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

Examples of dolorous in a Sentence

dolorous ballads of death and regret

Recent Examples on the Web

Above ground, the images are reminiscent of Bela Tarr or the particularly dolorous stretches of early Tarkovsky movies, an impression accented by the strange siren-like blares, twangs and choral interludes of Tako Zhordania’s otherwordly score. —Jessica Kiang, Variety, 8 July 2023

The next evening, a lanky youth in military fatigues mumbles something less dolorous from the same podium and Llewyn can only watch from the sidelines as the audience applauds with vigour. —Hazlitt, 24 Aug. 2022

Things had changed just enough to incorporate this kind of hard, dolorous realism. —Wesley Morris, New York Times, 5 Nov. 2020

Filled with desolate vistas, a feathered and furred menagerie, and multiple aperture-like windows, these fragments quickly establish a moody tone and over time become dolorous refrains. —Manohla Dargis, New York Times, 1 Feb. 2018

His Grammy supremacy, to the exclusion of Sheeran, shows that the dolorous guitarist no longer holds intrinsic sway over the smiling showman for the awards' purposes. —Andrew Unterberger, Billboard, 28 Nov. 2017

The mosaics portray Jesus and his human forebears, including Joseph and a dolorous Mother Mary. —Nasser Nasser, National Geographic, 27 May 2016

Did Affleck use up his store of dolorous winces in Manchester by the Sea? —Christian Lorentzen, New Republic, 5 July 2017

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined above

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Kids Definition

dolorous

adjective

do·​lor·​ous ˈdō-lə-rəs 

ˈdäl-ə-

: causing, marked by, or expressing sorrow

dolorously adverb

Medical Definition

dolorous

adjective

do·​lor·​ous ˈdō-lə-rəs  ˈdäl-ə- 

1

: causing, characterized by, or affected with physical pain

dolorous sensations

2

: causing, marked by, or expressive of misery or grief

dolorously adverb