noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   The characteristic of being doleful; sadness. uncountable
2. 2
   sadness caused by grief or affliction wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

bluenessbluescrestfallennessdejectiondepressiondespondency

Antonyms

All antonyms

happinesshigh spiritsjoymirth

Example

More examples

"Everything seemed dulled by Sunday's torpor and the dolefulness of the summer days."

Etymology

From Middle English doolfulnes, dolfulnesse, equivalent to doleful + -ness.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.