woeful

adjective

woe·​ful ˈwō-fəl 

variants or less commonly woful

1

: full of woe : grievous

woeful prophecies

2

: involving or bringing woe

3

: lamentably bad or serious : deplorable

woeful ignorance

woefully

ˈwō-f(ə-)lē 

adverb

woefulness

ˈwō-fəl-nəs 

noun

Synonyms

• aching
• agonized
• anguished
• bemoaning
• bewailing
• bitter
• deploring
• doleful
• dolesome
• dolorous
• funeral
• grieving
• heartbroken
• lamentable
• lugubrious
• mournful
• plaintive
• plangent
• regretful
• rueful
• sorrowful
• sorry
• wailing
• weeping

Examples of woeful in a Sentence

The puppy had woeful eyes.

The student's grades were woeful.

Recent Examples on the Web

There was a woeful miss that afternoon which was clearly the product of a forward who has had little meaningful opportunity of late and who had far too much time to think about what to do when one-on-one with Bart Verbruggen. —Matt Woosnam, The Athletic, 19 Dec. 2024

Many a home baker can share their woeful stories about pumpkin pies coming out of the oven with unsightly cracks across the top. —Taylor Tobin, Southern Living, 24 Nov. 2024

Woody Johnson is cleaning house for his woeful New York Jets in what has been a hugely disappointing season. —Dennis Waszak Jr., Twin Cities, 19 Nov. 2024

Fueled by their strongest offensive showing of the young season — and a woeful Wizards defense — the Knicks opened the first quarter with a 40-point explosion, their highest-scoring quarter so far this season. —Kristian Winfield, New York Daily News, 19 Nov. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

woeful

adjective

woe·​ful ˈwō-fəl 

1

: full of woe

a woeful tale

2

: involving or bringing woe

a woeful occurrence

3

: pitifully bad

woeful ignorance

woefully

-f(ə-)lē 

adverb

woefulness

-fəl-nəs 

noun