1
as in mournful
expressing or suggesting mourning
a doleful expression on their faces as they said good-bye to the friends they had made over the summer
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in sad
feeling unhappiness
the visibly doleful players, heartbroken about their loss
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of doleful
Where the Sea Change version sounds doleful, the new orchestration sounded almost hopeful with strings that glide over the chords and a perky piccolo poking through the musical ceiling.
—
Kory Grow, Rolling Stone, 31 July 2024
The record’s doleful orchestral compositions feature contributions from Ishibashi’s longtime musical partner Jim O’Rourke.
—Jazz Monroe, Pitchfork, 28 June 2024
But those doleful practical consequences are all around us.
—Ramesh Ponnuru, National Review, 25 June 2024
In a doleful irony, his digital rerecording of the piece, taken at a more stately tempo and with other changes, would be the last Gould album released by Columbia before his untimely death at age 50 in 1982.
—Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 9 Apr. 2024
See All Example Sentences for doleful
Kory Grow, Rolling Stone, 31 July 2024
The record’s doleful orchestral compositions feature contributions from Ishibashi’s longtime musical partner Jim O’Rourke.
—Jazz Monroe, Pitchfork, 28 June 2024
But those doleful practical consequences are all around us.
—Ramesh Ponnuru, National Review, 25 June 2024
In a doleful irony, his digital rerecording of the piece, taken at a more stately tempo and with other changes, would be the last Gould album released by Columbia before his untimely death at age 50 in 1982.
—Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 9 Apr. 2024
See All Example Sentences for doleful
Recent Examples of Synonyms for doleful
Adjective
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This is a love story, after all, and one with a keen grasp of the mournful, curious glances between its two leads — of how much goes untranslated between them, and how much is conveyed.—
Sheri Linden,
New York Times,
27 Mar. 2025
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In a circular frame at the center of the screen, still images and footage of the deceased played over the swelling, mournful music in a static shot anchoring the four-and-a-half-minute segment, which was capped off by a final photograph of Hackman.—
Dade Hayes,
Deadline,
2 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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Kwong grew up hearing stories of every kind about Manzanar—scary, sad, funny and infuriating.—
Rachel Ng,
Smithsonian Magazine,
27 Mar. 2025
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Yet, whatever the deal means for Paul, Weiss, its acquiescence to Trump marks a sad day for the legal profession—or what once was a profession, and is now just another business.—
Ruth Marcus,
New Yorker,
27 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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And every day, across from them, outside the clinic, about to enter or just leaving, there were women hugging each other and weeping.—
David Mamet,
National Review,
11 Aug. 2022
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The show manages to stay on the brink — always laughing, never quite weeping — for its entire length.—
Helen Shaw,
Vulture,
8 Dec. 2021
Adjective
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Despite that success, Willard was unhappy with the program’s financial commitments.—
Taylor Lyons,
Baltimore Sun,
30 Mar. 2025
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If Amazon is unhappy with season 2 of Citadel and season 1 was not all the great to begin with, this idea that the series is going to launch into some popular, sprawling spy universe for the service seems in doubt.—
Paul Tassi,
Forbes.com,
29 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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The funeral mass for Azcona will be held Friday at 10:30am at the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Newark.—
Brian Niemietz,
New York Daily News,
12 Mar. 2025
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On Wednesday, Israelis lined the streets to watch the funeral procession for Bibas and her two young sons, Kfir and Ariel, who were nine-months-old and 4 years old respectively when they were taken hostage with their mother, and whose bodies were also returned and identified last week.—
Hadeel Al-Shalchi,
NPR,
27 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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Swelling in the hands and feet, getting sick frequently, feeling depressed, or having wounds that are slow to heal.—
Lorena Meouchi,
Vogue,
21 Mar. 2025
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The photographer asked me to act sad and depressed, to stop smiling.—
Gaylyn Henderson, MPH,
Health,
17 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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In the original visual, the Grammy winner plays a heartbroken character named Peaches who has all traces of her ex wiped from her hippocampus, an homage to Michel Gondry’s 2004 film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.—
Hannah Dailey,
Billboard,
26 Mar. 2025
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Seven Oaks parents ‘heartbroken’ Five Seven Oaks parents reached out to the Statesman to express disappointment with the removal of the bulletin board.—
Rose Evans,
Idaho Statesman,
25 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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Scratching will just make your rash worse and your life more miserable.—
Avery Hurt,
Discover Magazine,
29 Mar. 2025
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Many parents, in fact, report that the worst-case scenario is not when your whole family is ill but when the adults are miserable and the under-six cohort feels just fine.—
Kathryn Schulz,
New Yorker,
29 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Doleful.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/doleful. Accessed 6 Apr. 2025.
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