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View synonyms for woeful

woeful

[ woh-fuhl ]

adjective

  1. full of woe; wretched; unhappy:

    a woeful situation.

  2. affected with, characterized by, or indicating woe:

    woeful melodies.

  3. of wretched quality; sorry; poor:

    a woeful collection of paintings.

    Synonyms: awful, dreadful, unlikely, unpromising



woeful

/ ˈwəʊfəl /

adjective

  1. expressing or characterized by sorrow
  2. bringing or causing woe
  3. pitiful; miserable

    a woeful standard of work

“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


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Derived Forms

  • ˈwoefulness, noun
  • ˈwoefully, adverb
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Other Words From

  • woe·ful·ly adverb
  • woe·ful·ness noun
  • un·woe·ful adjective
  • un·woe·ful·ness noun
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Word History and Origins

Origin of woeful1

A Middle English word dating back to 1250–1300; woe, -ful
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Example Sentences

Relative to new-franchise standards — including the woeful Seattle Kraken this year — Vegas remains well ahead of the curve.

The Packers are a team I can’t quite figure out, though their position in this woeful division means they will likely still rack up wins.

Since the summer of 1916, when the men were remanded here, this house, with its woeful food, furniture, space, and sanitation, had been their only home.

H said half of the growth in revenue increases would go to the city’s woeful streets, storm drains, sidewalks and other related physical needs.

Its strength of schedule ranks 78th out of 127 schools, and its only Power Five win was against the woeful Kansas Jayhawks.

And its woeful end is a reminder that the U.S. has few good options in its attempts to bring American prisoners home.

It operated a fleet of very old airplanes and had such a woeful safety record that FAA inspectors wanted to ground it.

In much of the DRC, roads are in a woeful state of disrepair, and in Goma, the conditions are especially dire.

The Romanov tsars imposed rigid serfdom just as that woeful institution was fading almost everywhere else.

I sat in a suite at the Savoy hotel, in privilege, resenting the woeful ratbag I once was who, for all his problems, had drugs.

Down the long corridors the wind mysteriously whispered, rising in inarticulate moanings and woeful sighs, as of souls in pain.

You didnt know that I was born under a lucky star despite all my woeful past.

He put on a woeful face, pushed open the door, and went up to the counter, where the landlord still was.

And yet the latter days of this great-souled man were a woeful tragedy.

The sorrow of his life was his most woeful, disastrous marriage.

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