1
as in sad
causing unhappiness
a teary ending to what had been up to that point a lighthearted movie
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in tearful
given to expressing strong emotion (as sorrow) by readily shedding tears
he's one of those teary drunks who sees fit to bore the other bar patrons with his sad stories
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of teary
Jamie’s phone-call confession sends Eddie into a teary existential crisis, one that ends with Eddie in Jamie’s bedroom, where his teen son tumbled down the social-media rabbit hole and peed his pants when cops came to arrest him.
—
Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 22 Mar. 2025
The coughing fits and teary eyes that come with that moment are why smokeless fire pits have shot to the top of so many wish lists in recent years.
—Clint Davis, People.com, 22 Mar. 2025
Emotions escalated; an impassioned and teary speech was given, pointing out my wrongheadedness.
—Yiyun Li, Harper's Magazine, 2 Nov. 2024
Her fellow artists, including Lady Gaga and Billie Eilish, were teary in the audience following the history-making win.
—Evan Nicole Brown, TIME, 3 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for teary
Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 22 Mar. 2025
The coughing fits and teary eyes that come with that moment are why smokeless fire pits have shot to the top of so many wish lists in recent years.
—Clint Davis, People.com, 22 Mar. 2025
Emotions escalated; an impassioned and teary speech was given, pointing out my wrongheadedness.
—Yiyun Li, Harper's Magazine, 2 Nov. 2024
Her fellow artists, including Lady Gaga and Billie Eilish, were teary in the audience following the history-making win.
—Evan Nicole Brown, TIME, 3 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for teary
Recent Examples of Synonyms for teary
Adjective
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Her story is beautiful and sad, heartwarming and devastating.—
American Booksellers Association,
USA Today,
3 May 2025
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If my random and unscientific survey of some French opinion at all represents the nation’s as a whole, then the debut of Donald Trump’s America has left some French triste — a bit sad, even brokenhearted, and also wary and vigilant.—
Patt Morrison,
Los Angeles Times,
3 May 2025
Adjective
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Joe played it, hearing his tearful wife speak of how the Vines mess dredged up, yet again, so much of the pain of losing their son.—
Matt Webb Mitovich,
TVLine,
27 Apr. 2025
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On May 10, 2008, country music legend Randy Travis inducted a tearful Underwood into the famed Grand Ole Opry in Nashville.—
Ashley Hume,
FOXNews.com,
27 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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They are already relegated to the Championship with five games to play and could break club records after a desperately depressing campaign.—
Rob Tanner,
New York Times,
28 Apr. 2025
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Editor’s picks An hour of episodic television is usually breech-birthed in a depressing Hollywood conference room filled with dyspeptic writers arguing over lines as the space fills up with the smell of fear, body odor, and Asian fusion takeout.—
Stephen Rodrick,
Rolling Stone,
9 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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In a speech that lasted nearly five minutes, an emotional Gaga moved the crowd.—
Billboard Brasil,
Billboard,
5 May 2025
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The visual adjustment seems intended to establish Rose’s emotional distance from her family.—
Alison Foreman,
IndieWire,
4 May 2025
Adjective
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Kenney-Silver delivers a touchingly nuanced performance as Anne, balanced on the fine line between sad as in devastated and sad as in pathetic.—
Angie Han,
HollywoodReporter,
1 May 2025
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Marathon needs to be given every possible chance to succeed and making Bungie crunch to fix things and throwing it into the wolves as a fall release (one that’s literally on the same day as Borderlands 4, mind you) would be a pathetic excuse for support.—
Paul Tassi,
Forbes.com,
28 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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Novelist Kazuo Ishiguro’s weepy cloning love-triangle story turned out to be apt source material for his friend Garland to adapt.—
Eric Vilas-Boas,
Vulture,
11 Apr. 2025
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There’s nothing like hearing a unified gasp at a horror movie or seeing others wiping their eyes after a weepy drama.—
Kara Nesvig,
Parents,
10 Apr. 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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Several days after this lachrymose dinner, a carnival-level event delighted Angelenos of either political persuasion.—
Patt Morrison,
Los Angeles Times,
12 Apr. 2024
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Puccini later inserted a different, more lachrymose text, one that forecasts her suicide.—
Alex Ross,
The New Yorker,
23 Oct. 2023
Cite this Entry
“Teary.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/teary. Accessed 10 May. 2025.
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