sorrowful

English

Etymology

From Middle English sorweful, from Old English sorhful, sorgful (“full of care; anxious; sorrowful”), from Proto-Germanic *surgafullaz (“full of care; anxious”), equivalent to sorrow +‎ -ful. Cognate with Old High German sorgfol (“careful; anxious”), Norwegian sorgfull (“sorrowful”), Icelandic sorgfullur (“lamentable”).

Pronunciation

(Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈsɔɹoʊfəl/, /ˈsɔɹəfəl/
(General American) IPA^(key): /ˈsɑɹoʊfəl/, /ˈsɑɹəfəl/
(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈsɒɹəʊfəl/, /ˈsɒɹəfəl/
(New Zealand) IPA^(key): /ˈsɔɹɐʉfɘl/, /ˈsɔɹɘfɘl/
Audio (US) (file)
Hyphenation: sor‧row‧ful

Adjective

sorrowful (comparative more sorrowful, superlative most sorrowful)

(of a person) exhibiting sorrow; dejected; distraught.
Producing sorrow; causing grief.
sorrowful accident
- 1900 May 17, L[yman] Frank Baum, chapter 23, in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Chicago, Ill.; New York, N.Y.: Geo[rge] M. Hill Co., OCLC 297099816:
  She threw her arms around the Lion's neck and kissed him, patting his big head tenderly. Then she kissed the Tin Woodman, who was weeping in a way most dangerous to his joints. But she hugged the soft, stuffed body of the Scarecrow in her arms instead of kissing his painted face, and found she was crying herself at this sorrowful parting from her loving comrades.

Synonyms

mournful, lamentable, grievous
See also Thesaurus:sad
See also Thesaurus:lamentable

Translations

full of sorrow

Arabic: مُحْزَن‎ (muḥzan)
Bulgarian: тъжен (bg) (tǎžen), скръбен (bg) (skrǎben)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 悲哀 (zh) (bēi'āi), 悲痛 (zh) (bēitòng), 悲傷／悲伤 (zh) (bēishāng), 哀愁 (zh) (āichóu)
Cornish: ahwerek, moredhek
Czech: smutný (cs) m, truchlící
Finnish: surullinen (fi)
French: triste (fr), douloureux (fr)
German: betrübt (de), kummervoll (de), sorgenvoll, traurig (de)
Gothic: 𐌲𐌰𐌿𐍂𐍃 (gaurs)
Irish: aiféalach
Japanese: 痛ましい (ja) (いたましい, itamashii), 悲しい (ja) (かなしい, kanashii)
Macedonian: та́жен (tážen), скр́бен (skŕben)
Maori: tuarea, aroaroā
Old English: ċeariġ, ġeōmor
Persian: غمناک‎ (fa) (ğamnâk)
Polish: smutny (pl) m
Portuguese: magoado (pt) m
Russian: печа́льный (ru) (pečálʹnyj), гру́стный (ru) (grústnyj), (dolorous) ско́рбный (ru) (skórbnyj)
Scottish Gaelic: brònach
Spanish: triste (es)
Turkish: acılı (tr), müteessir (tr), üzüntülü (tr)

producing sorrow

Bulgarian: печален (bg) (pečalen)
Finnish: surullinen (fi), valitettava (fi)
French: attristant (fr)
Georgian: საცოდავი (sacodavi)
Macedonian: жа́лен (žálen), жа́лосен (žálosen)
Middle English: hevysum
Turkish: üzücü (tr), hüzünlü (tr), üzüntülü (tr)