1
as in mournful
expressing or suggesting mourning
the woeful expressions of the players after the humiliating loss
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in sad
feeling unhappiness
never saw a more woeful-looking bunch than those campers sitting there in the drenching rain
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in tragic
of a kind to cause great distress
the restaurant patron made the woeful discovery that he had left his wallet at home
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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.
Recent Examples of woeful
The consequences were woeful, and sometimes, men claimed a spot on each rank of the podium in women’s divisions.
—
The Editors, National Review, 7 Feb. 2025
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
See All Example Sentences for woeful
The Editors, National Review, 7 Feb. 2025
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
See All Example Sentences for woeful
Recent Examples of Synonyms for woeful
Adjective
-
The mournful footnote to Hollywood or Bust is that off-set, the friendship between Martin and Lewis had already broken down irrevocably.—
Stephanie Zacharek,
TIME,
19 Mar. 2025
-
Definitely — but there’s a mournful resonance to that in a play where characters reach out so desperately and remain so trapped within themselves.—
Sara Holdren,
Vulture,
18 Mar. 2025
Adjective
-
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
-
Kwong grew up hearing stories of every kind about Manzanar—scary, sad, funny and infuriating.—
Rachel Ng,
Smithsonian Magazine,
27 Mar. 2025
Adjective
-
John Lennon’s tragic death in 1980 forever changed the trajectory of life for his widow Yoko Ono and their son Sean.—
Rachel DeSantis,
People.com,
22 Mar. 2025
-
The tragic case of Kitty Genovese in 1964 famously illustrated this concept, though the case details have been subject to later scrutiny and revision.—
Cornelia C. Walther,
Forbes,
22 Mar. 2025
Adjective
-
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
-
The show manages to stay on the brink — always laughing, never quite weeping — for its entire length.—
Helen Shaw,
Vulture,
8 Dec. 2021
Adjective
-
Despite that success, Willard was unhappy with the program’s financial commitments.—
Taylor Lyons,
Baltimore Sun,
30 Mar. 2025
-
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
-
Here at home, extreme weather exacerbated by climate change is having many unfortunate impacts on our lives, from farmers losing crops to devastating floods, brush fires, and high heat days.—
Michael Leone,
Hartford Courant,
28 Mar. 2025
-
Viet and Nam try to make sense of the tragic deaths of unfortunate people like Nam’s father, while their film namesake also attempts to do similar for people like those who have perished when attempting to find a new life.—
Josh Slater-Williams,
IndieWire,
28 Mar. 2025
Adjective
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
Scratching will just make your rash worse and your life more miserable.—
Avery Hurt,
Discover Magazine,
29 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Woeful.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/woeful. Accessed 2 Apr. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share