Library / English Dictionary

SADNESS

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

The quality of excessive mournfulness and uncheerfulness

Synonyms:

gloominess; lugubriousness; sadness

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Hypernyms ("sadness" is a kind of...):

uncheerfulness (not conducive to cheer or good spirits)

Derivation:

sad (bad; unfortunate)

sad (of things that make you feel sad)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Emotions experienced when not in a state of well-being

Synonyms:

sadness; unhappiness

Classified under:

Nouns denoting feelings and emotions

Hypernyms ("sadness" is a kind of...):

feeling (the experiencing of affective and emotional states)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "sadness"):

dolefulness (sadness caused by grief or affliction)

heaviness (persisting sadness)

melancholy (a feeling of thoughtful sadness)

misery (a feeling of intense unhappiness)

desolation; forlornness; loneliness (sadness resulting from being forsaken or abandoned)

tearfulness; weepiness (sadness expressed by weeping)

sorrow (an emotion of great sadness associated with loss or bereavement)

regret; rue; ruefulness; sorrow (sadness associated with some wrong done or some disappointment)

cheerlessness; uncheerfulness (a feeling of dreary or pessimistic sadness)

depression (sad feelings of gloom and inadequacy)

dejectedness; dispiritedness; downheartedness; low-spiritedness; lowness (a feeling of low spirits)

Antonym:

happiness (emotions experienced when in a state of well-being)

Derivation:

sad (experiencing or showing sorrow or unhappiness)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The state of being sad

Example:

she tired of his perpetual sadness

Synonyms:

sadness; sorrow; sorrowfulness

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Hypernyms ("sadness" is a kind of...):

unhappiness (state characterized by emotions ranging from mild discontentment to deep grief)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "sadness"):

bereavement; mourning (state of sorrow over the death or departure of a loved one)

poignance; poignancy (a state of deeply felt distress or sorrow)

Derivation:

sad (experiencing or showing sorrow or unhappiness)

Credits

 Context examples: 

Beth watched it till it vanished, and her eyes were full of sadness.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

You were dwelling upon the sadness and horror and useless waste of life.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Jane! Jane! he said, in such an accent of bitter sadness it thrilled along every nerve I had; you don't love me, then?

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Nay, in sober sadness, I believe I now love you all.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

A state of sadness, grief, and mourning after the loss of a loved one.

(Bereavement, NCI Dictionary)

The land itself was a desolation, lifeless, without movement, so lone and cold that the spirit of it was not even that of sadness.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

At first his countenance was illuminated with pleasure, but as he continued, thoughtfulness and sadness succeeded; at length, laying aside the instrument, he sat absorbed in reflection.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

The shedding of tears associated with emotions, usually sadness but also joy or frustration.

(Crying, NCI Thesaurus)

It may include feelings of great sadness, anger, guilt, and despair.

(Grief, NCI Dictionary)

Sadness, anger, and frustration are common.

(Limb Loss, NIH)