sorrowful

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˈsɑroʊfəl/ UK /ˈsɒrəʊfʊl/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

adj
feeling or expressing deep sadness or grief

A sorrowful melody drifted from the open window.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · feeling or expressing deep... sad mournful grieving melancholy doleful woeful dejected heartbroken

Opposites

joyful happy cheerful glad elated

Word family

Derived forms sorrowfully sorrowfulness

Related forms sorrow

Etymology

From sorrow + -ful. Sorrow derives from Old English sorg, sorh ('grief, regret, anxiety'), from Proto-Germanic *surgō ('care, sorrow'), from Proto-Indo-European *swergh- ('to worry, be sick').

sorg Old English *surgō Proto-Germanic *swergh- Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# sorrowful

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

## Meanings
1. feeling or expressing deep sadness or grief

## Examples
- A sorrowful melody drifted from the open window.

## Synonyms
- sad
- mournful
- grieving
- melancholy
- doleful
- woeful
- dejected
- heartbroken

## Antonyms
- joyful
- happy
- cheerful
- glad
- elated

## Derived Forms
- sorrowfully
- sorrowfulness

## Related Forms
- sorrow

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: sorg
- Root: *surgō
- Root: *swergh-

## Etymology
From sorrow + -ful. Sorrow derives from Old English sorg, sorh ('grief, regret, anxiety'), from Proto-Germanic *surgō ('care, sorrow'), from Proto-Indo-European *swergh- ('to worry, be sick').

## AI Etymology
Sorrowful comes from sorrow + -ful. Sorrow derives from Old English sorg, sorh ('grief, regret, anxiety'), from Proto-Germanic *surgō ('care, sorrow'), from Proto-Indo-European *swergh- ('to worry, be sick'). The suffix is part of the word's derivational shape, marking the final grammatical or semantic role while the base supplies the central meaning. As an adjective, it carries the sense "feeling or expressing deep sadness or grief", with the older formation still helping explain the modern use. Relevant historical forms include Old English sorg, Proto-Germanic *surgō, and Proto-Indo-European *swergh-. Derivative forms include sorrowfully, sorrowfulness; related words include sorrow.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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