Sad
adj, intj, name, noun, verb, slang ·Very common ·Middle school level
Definitions
- 1 Alternative form of saad (“Arabic letter”). alt-of, alternative
- 2 Initialism of seasonal affective disorder. abbreviation, alt-of, initialism
- 3 Initialism of standard American diet. abbreviation, alt-of, initialism
- 4 Initialism of social anxiety disorder. abbreviation, alt-of, initialism
- 5 Initialism of single-wavelength anomalous dispersion. abbreviation, alt-of, initialism
- 1 To make melancholy; to sadden or grieve (someone). archaic, transitive
"16??, John Webster, Appius and Virginia My father's wondrous pensive, and withal / With a suppress'd rage left his house displeas'd, / And so in post is hurried to the camp: / It sads me much; to expel which melancholy, / I have sent for company."
- 1 Emotionally negative.; Feeling sorrow; sorrowful, mournful.
"She gets sad when he's away."
- 2 Emotionally negative.; Appearing sorrowful.
"The puppy had a sad little face."
- 3 Emotionally negative.; Causing sorrow; lamentable.
"It's a sad fact that most rapes go unreported."
- 4 Emotionally negative.; Poor in quality, bad; shameful, deplorable; later, regrettable, poor.
"That's the saddest-looking pickup truck I've ever seen."
- 5 Emotionally negative.; Of colours: dark, deep; later, sombre, dull.
"[…]this is either uſed crude, and called ſulphur vive, and is of a ſadder colour; or after depuration, ſuch as we have in magdeleons or rols of a lighter yellow."
Show 7 more definitions
- 6 Sated, having had one's fill; satisfied, weary. obsolete
- 7 Steadfast, valiant. obsolete
"The fearefull newes that whilſt the flame doth but begin, Sad pollicie may ſerue to quench the fire: […]"
- 8 Dignified, serious, grave. obsolete
"Therfore it nedeth that better prouysion. Were founde for youthe by sad and wyse counsayle"
- 9 Naughty; troublesome; wicked. obsolete
"Mr. Santon laughed, and merely said,—"Oh, you cruel beauty!" returning to his paper again; but, seated in the bay-window was one, who could not thus lightly look upon the conduct of the coquettish Winnie, for it was evident she was a sad coquette."
- 10 Unfashionable; socially inadequate or undesirable. slang
"I can't believe you use drugs; you're so sad!"
- 11 Soggy (to refer to pastries). dialectal
- 12 Heavy; weighty; ponderous; close; hard. obsolete
"sad bread"
- 1 bad; unfortunate wordnet
- 2 experiencing or showing sorrow or unhappiness wordnet
- 3 of things that make you feel sad wordnet
- 1 Expressing contempt, ridicule or disgust; bah! Internet, humorous, sometimes
- 1 Initialism of Special Activities Division. US, abbreviation, alt-of, initialism
- 2 Initialism of Shiromani Akali Dal (Indian political party) abbreviation, alt-of, initialism
Example
More examples"It is sad that so few people give money to help the hungry."
Etymology
From Middle English sad, from Old English sæd (“satisfied, full, sated, unable to handle more, weary”), from Proto-West Germanic *sad, from Proto-Germanic *sadaz (“sated, satisfied”), from Proto-Indo-European *seh₂- (“to satiate, satisfy”). Cognate to Saterland Frisian sääd, West Frisian sêd, Dutch zat, German Low German satt, German satt. The interjection sense is a reference to frequent usage of the word as an interjection in the tweets of Donald Trump, President of the United States (2017–2021; a Trumpism.
Related phrases
More for "sad"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.