woeful

adjective

woe·​ful ˈwō-fəl How to pronounce woeful (audio)
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 adverb
woefulness noun

Examples of woeful in a Sentence

The puppy had woeful eyes. The student's grades were woeful.
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Expect that humankind will finally be relieved of the woeful chore of everyday toil and be freer to be imaginative and creative. Lance Eliot, Forbes, 19 Feb. 2025 The West Coast’s woeful showing makes perfect sense based on recent results but constitutes a notable shift from what might have been expected prior to the start of the season. Jon Wilner, The Mercury News, 15 Feb. 2025 Livingston, a former assistant coach for the Cincinnati Bengals, was hired last February and helped turn around what was a woeful Colorado defense in Sanders’ first year in Boulder. Christopher Kamrani, The Athletic, 14 Feb. 2025 Since the launch of the ID product family in 2019, VW has shifted more than 1.35 million ID EVs worldwide, many with the woeful haptic buttons customers have loathed, but which mercifully have now been binned. Julian Chokkattu, WIRED, 8 Feb. 2025 See All Example Sentences for woeful

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of woeful was in the 14th century

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Cite this Entry

“Woeful.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/woeful. Accessed 28 Feb. 2025.

Kids Definition

woeful

adjective
woe·​ful ˈwō-fəl How to pronounce woeful (audio)
1
: full of woe
a woeful tale
2
: involving or bringing woe
a woeful occurrence
3
: pitifully bad
woeful ignorance
woefully adverb
woefulness noun

More from Merriam-Webster on woeful

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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