Word.ws English Dictionary

Synonyms of sorrow

77 similar words

Another word for sorrow is ill-being. Other synonyms of sorrow are depression, misery, wrong, grief and distress.

Synonyms and similar words for sorrow

nounUnhappiness, woe.

  • dejectionA state of melancholy or depression; low spirits, the blues.
  • bluenessMelancholy.
  • tristesse literarySadness.
  • mirthlessLacking mirth; devoid of joy; sad.
  • bluesA feeling of sadness or depression.
  • crestfallennessThe quality of being crestfallen.
  • depressionA state of mind producing serious, long-term lowering of enjoyment of life or inability to visualize a happy future...
  • despondencyA feeling of depression or disheartenment.
  • distressA cause of such discomfort.
  • dolefulnessThe characteristic of being doleful; sadness.
  • downheartednessThe characteristic of being downhearted; sadness.
  • forlornnessThe state or characteristic of being forlorn; sadness; loneliness.
  • griefEmotional pain, generally arising from misfortune, significant personal loss, bereavement, misconduct of oneself or...
  • ill-beingThe state of being ill, unhealthy, or unhappy; misery; miserableness.
  • infelicity
  • melancholiaDeep sadness or gloom; melancholy.
  • melancholyGreat sadness or depression, especially of a thoughtful or introspective nature.
  • miseryGreat unhappiness; extreme pain of body or mind; wretchedness; distress; woe.
  • mourn literarySorrow, grief.
  • sadnessAn event in one's life that causes sadness.
  • sorrowfulnessThe quality or state of sorrow; sadness.
  • tristfulnessSadness; sorrow; melancholy.
  • undelightThe condition or feeling of lacking delight; unhappiness or displeasure.
  • unhappinessThe feeling of not being happy.
  • woeGreat sadness or distress; a misfortune causing such sadness.
  • woefareDiscontentment; sorrow; unhappiness.
  • wretchednessAn unhappy state of mental or physical suffering.
  • drearihead obsoleteSadness; dreariness.
  • heartsore rareHeartache, misery, grief.
  • mishappiness obsoleteUnhappiness; wretchedness; misery.
  • prosternation obsoleteDejection; depression.
  • regret obsolete
  • rue archaic, dialectalSorrow; repentance; regret.
  • ruth obsoleteMatter for regret or sorrow; calamity, ruin; also, occasion for regret or sorrow; (countable) an instance of this; a...

noun(usually in plural) An instance or cause of unhappiness.

verbTo feel or express grief.

  • grieveTo feel very sad about; to mourn; to sorrow for.
  • besorrowTo sorrow about or over; care about; fill with care or sorrow; make sad.
  • darkenTo become gloomy, darker in mood.
  • gloomTo look or feel sad, sullen or despondent.
  • grievenTo make or become grievous or grief-stricken; to fill or be filled with grief.
  • bleed
  • lamentTo express grief; to weep or wail; to mourn.
  • moan poeticTo grieve.
  • remorseTo experience remorse or sorrow; to regret.
  • repentTo feel pain, sorrow, or regret for what one has done or omitted to do; the cause for repenting may be indicated with...
  • sighTo lament; to grieve.
  • aggrieve obsoleteTo grieve; to lament.
  • condole obsoleteTo express deep sorrow; to grieve, to lament.
  • engrieve archaicTo grieve.
  • erme obsoleteTo grieve; to feel sad.
  • wayment obsoleteTo lament.
  • yearn obsolete

verbTo feel grief over; to mourn, regret.

  • bewailTo wail over; to feel or express deep sorrow for.
  • afterthink
  • becryTo cry about; cry over; lament; bemourn.
  • bemoanTo be dismayed or worried about (someone), particularly because of their situation or what has happened to them.
  • beweepTo weep over; weep for; weep about; deplore; lament.
  • deploreTo bewail; to weep bitterly over; to feel sorrow for.
  • elegizeTo lament, as if in an elegy.
  • keenTo mourn.
  • mean Ireland, UKTo lament.
  • pineTo grieve or mourn for.
  • wailTo lament; to bewail; to grieve over.
  • begrieve archaic, rareTo grieve over or about.
  • bemourn rareTo weep or mourn over.

Meaning of sorrow

  1. noun Unhappiness, woe.
  2. noun (usually in plural) An instance or cause of unhappiness.
  3. verb To feel or express grief.

Full definition of sorrow

sorrow in other languages

Questions about synonyms of sorrow

What is another word for sorrow?
Sorrow has 77 synonyms on Word.ws, such as ill-being, depression, misery, wrong, grief, distress, sadness and woe.
What does sorrow mean?
Sorrow means unhappiness, woe.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: sorrow (page history and authors) and the entries of the words listed. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws grouped the synonyms and antonyms by meaning and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “Synonyms of sorrow.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/synonyms/sorrow. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.