as in sad
feeling unhappiness
"Why do you look so hangdog today?" she asked
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of hangdog
Vic accepts his highly public and private humiliation with hangdog equanimity.
—
Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 18 Mar. 2022
Segel earns some empathy as a hangdog Everyman, though his backstory remains such a deliberate blank that any insight is mostly gleaned from his blundering missteps and low-simmering misery.
—Leah Greenblatt, EW.com, 18 Mar. 2022
Last year, for example, a player came into Brown’s office with a hangdog look on his face explaining his mom was pulling him out of the program.
—Richard A. Marini, San Antonio Express-News, 18 Feb. 2022
Another slip here is the casting of Effros in the lead role of Martin, a hangdog techie who travels from New York to Cape Cod to settle the estate of his late, estranged dad, Kenneth.
—Gary Goldstein, Los Angeles Times, 9 Feb. 2022
See All Example Sentences for hangdog
Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 18 Mar. 2022
Segel earns some empathy as a hangdog Everyman, though his backstory remains such a deliberate blank that any insight is mostly gleaned from his blundering missteps and low-simmering misery.
—Leah Greenblatt, EW.com, 18 Mar. 2022
Last year, for example, a player came into Brown’s office with a hangdog look on his face explaining his mom was pulling him out of the program.
—Richard A. Marini, San Antonio Express-News, 18 Feb. 2022
Another slip here is the casting of Effros in the lead role of Martin, a hangdog techie who travels from New York to Cape Cod to settle the estate of his late, estranged dad, Kenneth.
—Gary Goldstein, Los Angeles Times, 9 Feb. 2022
See All Example Sentences for hangdog
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hangdog
Adjective
-
That's the sad reality facing many dogs in the wider shelter system.—
Jack Beresford,
MSNBC Newsweek,
13 July 2025
-
Sinner plowed through an ailing Novak Djokovic 6-3, 6-3, 6-4, in a match that could serve as a sad, unfortunate coda to one of the most remarkable grass careers in tennis history.—
Matthew Futterman,
New York Times,
11 July 2025
Adjective
-
Screenshot from a July 1 TikTok video of a depressed golden retriever waiting for her dog dad to return 1 1/2 years after a breakup.—
Liz O'Connell,
MSNBC Newsweek,
10 July 2025
-
The law expands opportunity zones and extends tax benefits for investing in inner cities and economically depressed rural areas.—
Stephen Moore,
Boston Herald,
9 July 2025
Adjective
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This gives the creditor an additional target to pursue and make very unhappy which can indirectly put pressure on the debtor to pay the judgment.—
Jay Adkisson,
Forbes.com,
2 July 2025
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Circulation increased and the publication won two Pulitzer Prizes, but the owner, conservative Harry Guggenheim, was unhappy with the paper’s shift to the left, and he and Moyers were divided over the Vietnam War and the 1968 presidential election.—
Carmel Dagan,
Variety,
26 June 2025
Adjective
-
Raymond Cheadle, Honesty’s great-uncle, told WUSA the family, including the girl’s dad, is heartbroken.—
Miami Herald,
Miami Herald,
11 July 2025
-
Pepe has the power to make two heartbroken Islanders immediately forget about their old connections.—
Alejandra Gularte,
Vulture,
10 July 2025
Adjective
-
For now, this is DeVries on the job: intent but measured, teeth ready to clamp down on his tongue, establishing standards while also very much trying to make sure his team isn’t miserable from the beginning.—
Brian Hamilton,
New York Times,
11 July 2025
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His Panthers opened the season with two miserable losses, complete with booing from fans in the home opener, and the 23-year-old soon became the first quarterback selected No. 1 overall in the Super Bowl era to be benched for non-injury reasons.—
Eric Jackson,
Sportico.com,
7 July 2025
Adjective
-
The pair's scenes are stunningly well-written, tasking the actors with navigating a whirlwind of anger, frustration, melancholy, and love in tight, uncomfortable spaces.—
Randall Colburn,
EW.com,
3 July 2025
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The film’s odd tone — propulsive yet melancholy, cutting yet reflective — seems to embody the fact that nothing ever stays the same.—
Bilge Ebiri,
Vulture,
27 June 2025
Adjective
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But Littell, who had been on a good roll, had — by his standards — a bad day, allowing the Tigers to go ahead 3-2 in the fourth.—
Marc Topkin,
The Orlando Sentinel,
10 July 2025
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Don’t want to suggest that time is slow or that time is bad which might make people dislike time and, by association, the watch. 00:00:34: Not good. 00:00:36: Re: when the actor raises the drink to his mouth.—
Seth Reiss,
New Yorker,
10 July 2025
Adjective
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That, dear reader, is the sorry state of login security today.—
Davey Winder,
Forbes.com,
9 July 2025
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The outburst inspired motherly glances from Adams and Jones, who regaled McAllister before with sorry tales of the past two decades.—
Megan Feringa,
New York Times,
8 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Hangdog.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hangdog. Accessed 18 Jul. 2025.
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