Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Woeful |
WoefulAdjective1. Affected by or full of grief or woe; "his sorrow...made him look...haggard and...woebegone"- George du Maurier. 2. Of very poor quality or condition; "deplorable housing conditions in the inner city"; "woeful treatment of the accused"; "woeful errors of judgment". Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "woeful" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1010. (references) |
Synonyms: WoefulSynonyms: deplorable (adj), execrable (adj), miserable (adj), woebegone (adj), wretched (adj). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Inexpedience | Vile, base, villainous; mean; (paltry); injured; deteriorated; unsatisfactory, exceptionable indifferent; below par; (imperfect); illcontrived, ill-conditioned; wretched, sad, grievous, deplorable, lamentable; pitiful, pitiable, woeful; (painful). |
Pain | Distressing; afflicting, afflictive; joyless, cheerless, comfortless; dismal, disheartening; depressing, depressive; dreary, melancholy, grievous, piteous; woeful, rueful, mournful, deplorable, pitiable, lamentable; sad, affecting, touching, pathetic. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Woeful |
| English words defined with "woeful": -ful ♦ plight, predicament ♦ quandary ♦ Woe-begone, Woesome, Woful, Wofully, Wofulness. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "woeful": Bed ♦ meerschaum ♦ Stockings. (references) |
| Etymologies containing "woeful": Woesome. (references) |
| Domain | Title |
Books | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Author | Quotation |
Dante | What sweet thoughts, what longing led them to the woeful pass. |
Miguel de Cervantes | The famous Don Quixote de la Mancha, otherwise called The Knight of the Woeful Figure. |
Thomas Fuller | Willful waste brings woeful want. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | |
| Title | Author | Quote |
Les Miserables | Hugo, Victor | Thenardier and his daughter Azelma, the two who alone remained of that woeful group, had plunged back into the shadow |
King Richard III | Shakespeare, William | Farewell, thou woeful welcomer of glory |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Lexicography | Devil's Dictionary | MEERSCHAUM, n. (Literally, seafoam, and by many erroneously supposed to be made of it.) A fine white clay, which for convenience in coloring it brown is made into tobacco pipes and smoked by the workmen engaged in that industry. The purpose of coloring it has not been disclosed by the manufacturers. There was a youth (you've heard before, This woeful tale, may be), Who bought a meerschaum pipe and swore That color it would he! He shut himself from the world away, Nor any soul he saw. He smoke by night, he smoked by day, As hard as he could draw. His dog died moaning in the wrath Of winds that blew aloof; The weeds were in the gravel path, The owl was on the roof. "He's gone afar, he'll come no more," The neighbors sadly say. And so they batter in the door To take his goods away. Dead, pipe in mouth, the youngster lay, Nut-brown in face and limb. "That pipe's a lovely white," they say, "But it has colored him!" The moral there's small need to sing -- 'Tis plain as day to you: Don't play your game on any thing That is a gamester too. Martin Bulstrode |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| "Woeful" is generally used as an adjective (general or positive) -- approximately 100.00% of the time. "Woeful" is used about 34 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Adjective (general or positive) | 100% | 34 | 59,261 |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
| Language | Translations for "woeful"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Albanian | trishtues (woesome), i trishtuar (blue, cheerless, comfortless, dark, disappointed, disappointing, doleful, down, dreary, elegiac, funereal, gloomy, grievous, joyless, lugubrious, melancholy, minor, mirthless, miserable, mopish, mournful, pensive, rueful, sad, tristful, unhappy, vapoury, wailful, wan, wistful, woebegone, woesome), i pikëlluar (afflicted, distressed, distressful, dolorous, gaunt, glum, heartsick, mournful, rueful, sad, sorrowful, sorry, woesome), i dërrmuar (broken, careworn, dispirited, frazzle, haggard, woebegone, woesome). (various references) | |
Arabic | محزن (depressing, dismal, distressing, doleful, dolorous, gloomy, grievous, mournful, pathetic, rueful, sad, saddening, sorrowful, tragic), مثير للشفقة (pathetic, pitchy, sorry), حزين (afflicted, cheerless, dejected, depressed, doleful, dolorous, downcast, drear, dreary, lamentable, lugubrious, melancholic, miserable, mournful, pathetic, plaintive, rueful, sad, sore, sorrowful, sorry, sullen, unhappy, wailful, weary, wistful), رثى له (pitiable, pitiful, pity, puny, rueful, ruefully, saddening, sorry), بائس (afflicted, cheerless, deplorable, desolate, devil, disconsolate, distressed, forlorn, godforsaken, hapless, heel, helpless, lamentable, measly, miserable, paltry, pathetic, penurious, piteous, pitiful, poor, poverty stricken, ratty, sad, scruffy, seedy, sickly, sordid, squalid, unfortunate, unhappy, wretched). (various references) | |
Bulgarian | скръбен (doleful, mournful, sad), тъжен (bleak, cheerless, desolate, disconsolate, dismal, distressed, doleful, dull, dusky, elegiac, gloomy, heavy, joyless, lonesome, lugubrious, melancholy, minor, mirthless, mournful, pensive, plaintive, sad, sick, sickly, sorrowful, tristful, wan, wistful, woebegone), клет (miserable, pitiable, poor), нещастен (abject, hapless, ill fated, ill-starred, inauspicious, lack-all, lorn, poor, sick, unblessed, unchancy, unfortunate, unhappy, unlucky, wretched), за окайване, жалък (abject, lamentable, mangy, miserable, piteous, pitiable, pitiful, pokey, poor, sad, scabbed, scabby, scaly, scrubby, sorrowful, sorry, squalid), печален (dark, disconsolate, distressful, distressing, dolorous, drear, grave, grievous, heavyhearted, lamentable, lugubrious, mournful, rueful, sad, somber, sombre, sorrowful, tearful, tristful). (various references) | |
Chinese | 悲惨 (Woefully). (various references) | |
Czech | truchlivý (mournful, woesome), smutný (dismal, distressing, doleful, elegiac, gloomy, miserable, plaintive, sad, sorrowful, tearful, unhappy, upset, woesome), žalostný (deplorable, lamentable, measly, pathetic, piteous, pitiable, plaintive, regretful, rueful, woesome, wretched). (various references) | |
Farsi | محنت زده (Stricken), غمگین (Dyspeptic, Heartsick, Melancholy, Sad, Sorry), اندوهناک (Penitent, Remorseful, Rueful, Sad), اسفناک (Deplorable, Lamentable), بدبخت (Gray, Infelicitous, Miserable, Sorry, Unblessed, Unblest, Unfortunate, Unhappy, Wretch, Wretched). (various references) | |
French | triste, tragique, très triste, malheureux, affligeant. (various references) | |
German | trauig (pathetical, tearily), elend (abject, awful, calamitous, calamitously, calamitousness, confounded, destitution, dismal, distress, dreadful, hardship, meager, miserable, miserably, misery, penury, pitiable, pitiful, plight, poorly, poverty, sick, sordid, sordidness, squalid, squalor, unhappiness, woefully, woefulness, wretched, wretchedly, wretchedness). (various references) | |
Greek | θλιβερόσ (afflictive, bleak, doleful, dolourous, drear, dreary, grievous, lugubrious, pathetical, rueful). (various references) | |
Hebrew | מעציב (depressing, dolorous, melancholy, sad, saddening, sorry), עצוב (design, downhearted, fashioning, formation, forming, formulation, lugubrious, modeling, molding, morose, sad, shaping, sorrowful, sullen, unhappy). (various references) | |
Hungarian | szánalmas (deplorable, forlorn, lamentable, miserable, miserly, pathetic, piteous, pitiable, sad, woesome). (various references) | |
Italian | doloroso (aching, achy, distressing, dolorous, grievous, painful, sad, sore, woesome), disgraziato (hapless, miserable, sorrowful, unfortunate, unhappy, unlucky, woesome, wretch, wretched). (various references) | |
Manx | seiyjagh (agitating, agitative, agitatorial, calamitous, mournful, sad, sore), donney (bad, bad of food, calamitous, ill-advised, inauspicious, unfortunate, very ill), boirit (agitated, bothered, concerned, confused, disturbed, edgy, embarrassed, grieved, perplexed, pestered, preoccupied, teased, vexed, worried). (various references) | |
Pig Latin | oefulway.(various references) | |
Portuguese | relativo a lamentar (woesome), mísero (woesome), lastimável (chapfallen, deplorable, dismal, lamentable, miserable, pitiful, poor, regrettable, rueful, woesome), desgraçado (abject, miserable, poor, unblessed, unfortunate, unlucky, woesome, wretch, wretched), aflito (afflicted, anxious, care-worn, concerned, desolate, distressed, fretful, sad, sorrowful, troubled, woesome, worried). (various references) | |
Romanian | trist (bleak, blue, cheerless, dark, darkish, depressing, dispirited, doleful, dolefully, dolorous, downcast, drab, dreary, dull, dumpish, elegiac, glum, joyless, lamenting, maudlin, melancholy, miserable, mournful, mournfully, pensive, pensively, rueful, sad, sadly, sorrowful, splenetic, sullen, tough, unfortunate, unhappy, woebegone), lamentabil (godforsaken, lamentable, lamentably, lamenting, rotten, wretched), jalnic (beggarly, deplorable, distressing, doleful, forlorn, heart rending, lamentable, lamentably, lamenting, mangy, mean, miserable, miserably, mournful, pathetic, pathetically, piteous, pitiable, plaintive, rueful, ruefully, sad, sorrowful, sorry, squalid, wretched), întristãtor (melancholy, sad, saddening, sickening, sorry). (various references) | |
Russian | скорбный (doleful, mournful, sorrowful), горестный (grievous, harrowing, heart-rending), несчастный (desolate, disconsolate, hapless, hard, infelicitous, lack-all, lorn, miserable, pitiable, poor, sorry, star-crossed, unblessed, unfortunate, unhappy, wretch, wretched), жалкий (abject, forlorn, paltry, pathetic, pimping, piteous, pitiable, pitiful, poor, scrubby, wretched). (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | tužan (disappointing, dismal, distressed, distressful, distressing, doleful, dumpish, elegiac, funereal, grievous, joyless, lamentable, lugubrious, mirthless, plaintive, sad, tearful, unhappy, wailful, woesome). (various references) | |
Spanish | triste como un perro (bleak, woesome), lamentable (deplorable, grievous, lamentable, pitiable, pitiably, pitiful, regrettable, rueful, sad, shabby, woesome). (various references) | |
Swedish | bedrövad (afflicted, disrtessed, distressed, rueful, sad, woebegone, woesome). (various references) | |
Turkish | kederli (broken hearted, chapfallen, dejected, depressed, dismal, doleful, dolorous, drear, dreary, heartsick, heartsore, heavy-hearted, low-spirited, mournful, pained, rueful, sick at heart, sorrowful, unhappy), dertli (afflicted, afflicted with, aggrieved, distressed, grief-stricken, heartbroken, plaintive, rueful, suffering, tearful, under a cloud, woebegone), acınacak (deplorable, lamentable, pathetic, pitiable, regrettable, rueful), acıklı (deplorable, depressing, distressful, distressing, dolorous, hurtful, lugubrious, pathetic, piteous, rueful, sad, sorrowful, tearful, touching, weepy), üzücü (afflictive, devouring, distressful, distressing, dolorous, grievous, harrowing, heartbreaking, heavy, painful, regrettable, rueful, sad, sorrowful, trying, vexatious, vexing, worrisome, worrying). (various references) | |
Ukrainian | скорботний (distressful, dolorous, lugubrious, woe, woesome), тужливий (baleful, plaintive, plangent, wailing, wailsome, woesome), жалюгідний (abject, beggarly, caitiff, contemptible, deplorable, forlorn, impoverished, lamentable, mean, miserable, parsimonious, piteous, pitiable, pitiful, poor, queachy, snide, sorry, tatty, woesome, wretched), пригнічений (damp, dead alive, dejected, despondent, downward, dull, heavy-laden, low-spirited, vapourish, woebegone, woesome). (various references) | |
Vietnamese | thống khổ (woesome), bu"n rầu (black, chap-fallen, darkly, moody, morose, mournful, rueful, sad, sadly, sorrowful, sullen, woebegone, woefully, woesome), đầy tai ương (woesome), đáng thương đau khổ (woesome). (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | lacrimabilis. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Language | Date | Source | Jeremiah Chapter 17, Verse 16 |
| Greek (transliterated) | 250 BC | Septuagint | Egw de ouk ekopiasa katakolouqwn opisw sou kai hmeran anqrwpou ouk epequmhsa su episth ta ekporeuomena dia twn ceilewn mou pro proswpou sou estin |
| Latin | 405 | Vulgate | Et ego non sum turbatus te pastorem sequens et diem hominis non desideravi tu scis quod egressum est de labiis meis rectum in conspectu tuo fuit |
| Middle English | 1395 | Wyclif | And Y am not disturbid, thee shepperde folewende, and the dai of man I disirede not, thou wost. That that is gon out fro my lippis riyt in thi siyte was. |
| Jacobean English | 1611 | King James | As for me, I have not hastened from being a pastor to follow thee: neither have I desired the woeful day; thou knowest: that which came out of my lips was right before thee. |
| Victorian English | 1833 | Webster | As for me, I have not hastened from being a pastor to follow thee: neither have I desired the woeful day; thou knowest: that which was uttered by my lips was right before thee. |
| Basic English | 1964 | Ogden | As for me, I have not said; Let the day of trouble come to them quickly; and I have not been hoping for the death-giving day; you have knowledge of what came from my lips; it was open before you. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Language | Jeremiah Chapter 17, Verse 16 |
| Cebuano | Mahitungod kanako, ako wala magdali gikan sa pagka-magbalantay aron sa pagsunod kanimo; ni nangandoy ako sa masulob-ong adlaw; ikaw nahibalo: nga ang nagagula sa akong mga ngabil diha gikan sa imong nawong. |
| Croatian | Ta ja se nisam vrzao oko tebe za njihovu nesreæu niti sam želio kobni Dan! - ti to znaš, sve što je izlazilo iz usta mojih pred tobom je. |
| Danish | Jeg vægred mig ej ved at være Hyrde i dit Spor", begæred ej heller Ulykkens Dag, du ved det; hvad der udgik fra mine Læber, er for dit Åsyn. |
| Dutch | Ik heb toch niet aangedrongen, meer dan een herder achter U betaamde; ook heb ik den dodelijken dag niet begeerd, Gij weet het; wat uit mijn lippen is gegaan, is voor Uw aangezicht geweest. |
| Finnish | Mutta minä en ole vetäytynyt pois olemasta paimenena, sinua seuraamasta, enkä toivonut turmion päivää; sinä tiedät sen. Mitä minun huuliltani on lähtenyt, se on sinun kasvojesi edessä. |
| French | Et moi, pour t`obéir, je n`ai pas refusé d`être pasteur; Je n`ai pas non plus désiré le jour du malheur, tu le sais; Ce qui est sorti de mes lèvres a été découvert devant toi. |
| German | Aber ich bin nicht von dir geflohen, daß ich nicht dein Hirte wäre; so habe ich den bösen Tag nicht begehrt, das weißt du; was ich gepredigt habe, das ist recht vor dir. |
| Haitian Creole | Men, Seyè, mwen pa t' janm kole dèyè ou pou ou te voye malè sou yo! Mwen pa t' janm mande pou move tan tonbe sou yo! Seyè, ou konn sa! Se devan ou mwen te di tou sa m' te di. |
| Indonesian-Bahasa Sehari-hari | Tapi, ya TUHAN, tak pernah aku mendesak supaya Engkau mendatangkan celaka atas mereka. Aku tidak juga menginginkan supaya mereka ditimpa kemalangan. Engkau tahu itu, TUHAN. Engkau tahu apa yang kuucapkan. |
| Indonesian-Terjemahan Lama | Bahwa tiada aku tahu memaksa-maksa terlebih dari pada patut kepada seorang gembala; dan lagi tiada aku menghendaki hari yang amat celaka itu; Engkau juga yang mengetahuinya; bahwa barang yang sudah keluar dari pada mulutku itu adalah di hadapan hadirat-Mu. |
| Maori | Na, ko ahau nei, kihai ahau i hohoro atu i te mahi hepara i muri i a koe, kihai hoki i hiahia ki te ra o te mamae; e mohio ana ano koe: i mua i tou kanohi te mea i puta mai i oku ngutu. |
| Portuguese | Quanto a mim, não instei contigo para enviares sobre eles o mal, nem tampouco desejei o dia calamitoso; tu o sabes; o que saiu dos meus lábios estava diante de tua face. |
| Rumanian | ,,Wi eu, ca sq Te ascult, n`am vrut sq nu fiu pqstor; nici n`am dorit ziua nenorocirii, wtii; wi ce a iewit din buzele mele, este descoperit knaintea Ta. |
| Russian | с ОЕ У ЕЫЙМ 'ЩФШ БУФЩТЕН Х фЕ'С Й ОЕ ЦЕМБМ 'Е"УФЧЕООПЗП "ОС, фЩ ЬФП ЪОБЕЫШ; ЮФП ЧЩЫМП ЙЪ ХУФ НПЙИ, ПФЛТЩФП ТЕ" МЙ"ЕН фЧПЙН. |
| Spanish | Pero yo no he insistido detrás de ti para traer el daño, ni he anhelado el día de la calamidad; tú lo sabes. Lo que ha salido de mi boca fue en tu presencia. |
| Swedish | Det är ju så, att jag ej har undandragit mig herdekallet i din efterföljd, och fördärvets dag har jag icke åstundat; du vet det själv. Vad mina läppar hava uttalat, det har talats inför ditt ansikte. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "woeful": woefuller, woefullest, woefully, woefulness, woefulnesses. (additional references) | |
| |
"Woeful" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: noseful, woef. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "woeful" (pronounced wō"ful) |
| 3 | -f u l | apocryphal, artful, awful, baffle, baleful, bashful, beautiful, blissful, boastful, bountiful, careful, cheerful, colorful, deceitful, delightful, disdainful, disgraceful, disrespectful, distasteful, distrustful, doleful, doubtful, dreadful, duffel, dutiful, eventful, faithful, falafel, fanciful, fateful, fearful, fistful, fitful, flavorful, forceful, forgetful, fretful, frightful, fruitful, gainful, gleeful, graceful, grateful, harmful, hateful, healthful, helpful, hopeful, houseful, hurtful, sorrowful, soulful, spiteful, stifle, stressful, successful, suspenseful, tactful, tasteful, tearful, thankful, insightful, joyful, kerfuffle, lawful, lustful, masterful, meaningful, merciful, mindful, mistrustful, mournful, muffle, needful, neglectful, painful, panful, peaceful, pitiful, playful, plentiful, powerful, prayerful, purposeful, raffle, regretful, remorseful, resentful, reshuffle, resourceful, respectful, restful, riffle, rifle, rightful, rueful, ruffle, scornful, scuffle, shameful, shuffle, sinful, skillful, thoughtful, trifle, triumphal, truffle, truthful, tuneful, uneventful, unfaithful, ungrateful, unhealthful, unhelpful, unlawful, unsuccessful, untruthful, useful, vengeful, waffle, wasteful, watchful, willful, wishful, wistful, wonderful, worshipful, wrongful, youthful, zestful. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "e-f-l-o-u-w" | |
-1 letter: woful. | |
-2 letters: flew, floe, flow, flue, foul, fowl, fuel, lowe, wolf. | |
-3 letters: elf, feu, few, flu, foe, fou, leu, low, ole, owe, owl, woe. | |
-4 letters: ef, el, lo, oe, of, ow, we, wo. | |
| Words containing the letters "e-f-l-o-u-w" | |
+1 letter: outflew. | |
+2 letters: fuelwood, furbelow, powerful, upflowed, woefully. | |
+3 letters: flowerful, fuelwoods, furbelows, outflowed, sunflower, underflow, woefuller, wonderful. | |
+4 letters: furbelowed, powerfully, sunflowers, underflows, woefullest, woefulness. | |
+5 letters: cauliflower, counterflow, furbelowing, housewifely, wonderfully. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Commercial | 5. Quotations: Familiar 6. Quotations: Fiction 7. Quotations: Non-fiction 8. Usage Frequency | 9. Translations: Modern 10. Translations: Ancient 11. Bible Trace 12. Derivations | 13. Rhymes 14. Anagrams 15. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
