doleful

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˈdoʊlfəl/ UK /ˈdəʊlfəl/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

adj
expressing sorrow; mournful

The dog gave a doleful whine at the closed door.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · expressing sorrow; mournful mournful sorrowful woeful melancholy dismal lugubrious plaintive

Opposites

cheerful joyful merry gleeful

Word family

Forms dolefully

Derived forms dolefullydolefulness

Related forms dole dolorous dolesome condole

Etymology

From Middle English dolful, from dole ('grief, sorrow'), from Old French doel, from Late Latin dolus, from Latin dolere ('to grieve'), + -ful.

doel Old French dolere Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# doleful

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /ˈdoʊlfəl/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈdəʊlfəl/

## Meanings
1. expressing sorrow; mournful

## Examples
- The dog gave a doleful whine at the closed door.

## Synonyms
- mournful
- sorrowful
- woeful
- melancholy
- dismal
- lugubrious
- plaintive

## Antonyms
- cheerful
- joyful
- merry
- gleeful

## Derived Forms
- dolefully
- dolefulness

## Related Forms
- dole
- dolorous
- dolesome
- condole

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: doel
- Root: dolere

## Etymology
From Middle English dolful, from dole ('grief, sorrow'), from Old French doel, from Late Latin dolus, from Latin dolere ('to grieve'), + -ful.

## AI Etymology
Doleful comes from Middle English dolful, from dole ('grief, sorrow'), from Old French doel, from Late Latin dolus, from Latin dolere ('to grieve'), + -ful. The historical trail runs through Old French doel and Latin dolere. Morphologically, the surface form is analyzable into prefixes, suffixes, compounds, or participial endings that carry part of the history. In modern use it means expressing sorrow; mournful. Derived formations include dolefully, dolefulness; related forms include dole, dolorous, dolesome, condole.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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