SAD
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Tweet abbr. seasonal affective disorder |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
adj. sad·der, sad·dest 1. Showing, expressing, or feeling sorrow or unhappiness: a sad face. 2. Causing sorrow or gloom; depressing: a sad movie; sad news. 3. Deplorable or inadequate; sorry: a sad state of affairs; a sad excuse. 4. Dark-hued; somber. [Middle English, weary, sorrowful, from Old English sæd, sated, weary; see sā- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.] sadly adv. sadness n. Synonyms: sad, melancholy, sorrowful, doleful, woebegone, desolate These adjectives mean affected with or marked by unhappiness, as that caused by affliction. Sad is the most general: "Better by far you should forget and smile / Than that you should remember and be sad" (Christina Rossetti). Melancholy can refer to lingering or habitual somberness or sadness: a melancholy poet's gloomy introspection. Sorrowful applies to emotional pain as that resulting from loss: sorrowful mourners at the funeral. Doleful describes what is mournful or morose: the doleful expression of a reprimanded child. Woebegone suggests grief or wretchedness, especially as reflected in a person's appearance: "His sorrow ... made him look ... haggard and ... woebegone" (George du Maurier). Desolate applies to one that is beyond consolation: "Now she was desolate, a widow in a foreign country" (Nigel Hamilton). |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.