Woebegone

//ˈwoʊbɪɡɔn// adj

adj ·Common ·High school level

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    In a deplorable state.

    "The 44-year-old Prokhorov, the second-richest man in Russia, is expected to assume control of the woebegone Nets within the next few weeks."

  2. 2
    Filled with or deeply affected by woe.

    "Pen and Miss Bolton were hard by listening to the same concert, and the latter remarked, and Pen laughed at Mr. Foker’s woebegone face. Fanny asked what it was that made that odd-looking little man so dismal? “I think he is crossed in love!” Pen said."

Adjective
  1. 1
    affected by or full of grief or woe wordnet
  2. 2
    worn and broken down by hard use wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
dilapidatedsorrowfulaffectingafflictiveatrabiliaryatrabilious

Example

More examples

"Groups of excursionists, arrayed in unattractive traveling costumes, were moping about in a drizzling rain and looking as droopy and woebegone as so many molting chickens."

Etymology

From Old English wābegān (“beset by woe”), from wā (“woe”) + begān (“to beset, to surround”). Equivalent to woe + begone (past participle of bego).

Related phrases

Lake Wobegon

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