1
as in mournful
expressing or suggesting mourning
the woeful expressions of the players after the humiliating loss
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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
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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
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of woeful
The catastrophic crashes of two Boeing 737s in 2018 and 2019, claiming 346 lives, were fundamentally tied to woeful deficiencies in addressing human factors in the design, deployment, certification, and operation of the MCAS system.
—
Yaakov Katz, Newsweek, 7 Feb. 2025
The agency elevated its fight against climate change into a central pillar of U.S. development work akin to poverty reduction — a woeful distraction from its work in war zones and in countries suffering famine.
—The Editors, National Review, 5 Feb. 2025
This is good news for China after a woeful 2024 that saw a roughly 25% full-year slide versus 2023.
—Nancy Tartaglione, Deadline, 2 Feb. 2025
There were, predictably some long nights but Tommy was in many ways the most entertaining part of that woeful start to Winnipeg's NHL history.
—Steve Buckley, The Athletic, 21 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for woeful
Yaakov Katz, Newsweek, 7 Feb. 2025
The agency elevated its fight against climate change into a central pillar of U.S. development work akin to poverty reduction — a woeful distraction from its work in war zones and in countries suffering famine.
—The Editors, National Review, 5 Feb. 2025
This is good news for China after a woeful 2024 that saw a roughly 25% full-year slide versus 2023.
—Nancy Tartaglione, Deadline, 2 Feb. 2025
There were, predictably some long nights but Tommy was in many ways the most entertaining part of that woeful start to Winnipeg's NHL history.
—Steve Buckley, The Athletic, 21 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for woeful
Recent Examples of Synonyms for woeful
Adjective
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Brown’s sound design mixes Sousa-like military fanfares with mournful underscoring for Lavinia’s tragedy, neither of which has much to do with Kidwell’s preshow music.—
Emily McClanathan,
Chicago Tribune,
26 Feb. 2025
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Chaos quickly unfolds when the bickering, different-strokes twins find the calamitous heirloom—although Perkins keeps the first act mostly mournful, as the boys struggle with the onslaught of death around them.—
David Sims,
The Atlantic,
21 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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Oklahoma represents the sad conclusion of the Trail of Tears, and Tulsa serves as the meeting point for tribal nations—the Osage, Muscogee, and Cherokee.—
Nicholas Lalla,
WIRED,
4 Mar. 2025
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Police sad officers began providing aid to Mitchell, but medics later pronounced him dead at the scene.—
Rosalio Ahumada,
Sacramento Bee,
4 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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The documentary explores tragic teenage murders that gained global attention, including the deaths of British footballer Charlie Cosser and American cheerleader Tristyn Bailey.—
Jamie Lang,
Variety,
26 Feb. 2025
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Michelle Trachtenberg’s former costars are remembering the actor after her tragic death at age 39.—
Glamour,
Glamour,
26 Feb. 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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The Penguins listed Bunting as a healthy scratch early this season because coaches were unhappy with his effort in games and practices.—
Josh Yohe,
The Athletic,
6 Mar. 2025
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Independent distributors are unhappy with the growing percentage of royalty payments for their artists that are too low to be worth processing.—
Bill Rosenblatt,
Forbes,
6 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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Christie suffered from acute seasickness, unfortunate considering her trips to each continent were by ship.—
Nina Metz,
Chicago Tribune,
5 Mar. 2025
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On Monday evening, within hours of learning of the directive, some state workers called the order stupid and unfortunate.—
William Melhado,
Sacramento Bee,
5 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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The record for the shortest Oscar-winning performance goes to Beatrice Straight, who played the heartbroken wife of a philandering TV station president in Sidney Lumet’s 1976 film Network.—
Jordan Runtagh,
People.com,
2 Mar. 2025
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Listen to this article Skokie restaurateurs were left heartbroken on Valentine’s Day when a broken water main disaster in northeastern Skokie left the village without drinkable tap water from Feb. 14 through 16.—
Richard Requena,
Chicago Tribune,
25 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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Its economic position is parlous, its demographic situation is miserable and its military capacities have atrophied, and most of the chest-thumping about a revival of European power is empty talk and fantasy politics.—
Ross Douthat,
The Mercury News,
4 Mar. 2025
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But running — the exercise that can happen almost anywhere, any time and for very little expense — always felt miserable.—
Madeline Holcombe,
CNN,
2 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Woeful.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/woeful. Accessed 12 Mar. 2025.
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