Words for sad
Sad covers a lot of ground. These words divide it up: the quiet gloom of glum, the tears of lachrymose, the overdone misery of lugubrious, and the long, mournful complaint of a jeremiad.
dismay
dis-MAY, noun
A sinking mix of distress and disappointment.
“She read the repair estimate with growing dismay.”
gloomy
GLOO-mee, adjective
Dark, dim, or low in spirits.
“The gloomy forecast canceled the picnic before the rain did.”
glum
GLUHM, adjective
Quietly gloomy or dejected.
“The team sat glum after the demo crashed twice in a row.”
grim
GRIM, adjective
Serious, harsh, or without hope.
“The coach’s grim expression said more than the scoreboard.”
bleak
BLEEK, adjective
Offering little hope or comfort; cold and bare.
“The forecast was bleak: rain for the entire holiday.”
brood
BROOD, verb
To dwell gloomily on something.
“He brooded over the missed penalty for a full season.”
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dismal
DIZ-muhl, adjective
Gloomy and depressing; disgracefully bad.
“The team’s dismal first half emptied half the stadium.”
forlorn
for-LORN, adjective
Sadly abandoned or lonely in appearance.
“A single forlorn mitten spent the winter on the fence post.”
somber
SOM-ber, adjective
Dark, serious, or gloomy in tone.
“The locker room was somber until someone found the bloopers reel.”
wistful
WIST-fuhl, adjective
Full of gentle, thoughtful longing.
“He went wistful at the smell of his grandmother’s spice cabinet.”
despondent
dih-SPON-duhnt, adjective
In low spirits from loss of hope.
“He was despondent for a week after the rejection, then rewrote it.”
lugubrious
luh-GOO-bree-uhs, adjective
Looking or sounding sad and dismal, often to an exaggerated degree.
“The basset hound’s lugubrious expression suggested a life of quiet tragedy.”
maudlin
MAWD-lin, adjective
Excessively sentimental.
“The toast turned maudlin after the second glass.”
jeremiad
jair-uh-MY-uhd, noun
A long, mournful complaint or lament.
“The group chat received his jeremiad on airline seating in four parts.”
lachrymose
LAK-ruh-mohs, adjective
Tearful; inclined to weep.
“The film’s lachrymose finale emptied the tissue aisle.”
saturnine
SAT-er-nahyn, adjective
Gloomy and brooding in temperament.
“The saturnine doorman never once returned a smile.”
threnody
THREN-uh-dee, noun
A song or poem of mourning.
“The bagpipes turned the drizzle into a threnody for the season.”
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