Word.ws English Dictionary

Synonyms of woe

120 similar words · 6 opposite words

Another word for woe is ill-being. Other synonyms of woe are depression, misery, sorrow, grief and distress. The opposite of woe is joy.

Synonyms and similar words for woe

nounGreat sadness or distress; a misfortune causing such sadness.

  • griefEmotional pain, generally arising from misfortune, significant personal loss, bereavement, misconduct of oneself or...
  • sorrowUnhappiness, woe.
  • miseryGreat unhappiness; extreme pain of body or mind; wretchedness; distress; woe.
  • bluenessMelancholy.
  • tristesse literarySadness.
  • mirthlessLacking mirth; devoid of joy; sad.
  • bluesA feeling of sadness or depression.
  • crestfallennessThe quality of being crestfallen.
  • dejectionA state of melancholy or depression; low spirits, the blues.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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...

nounCalamity, trouble.

adjectiveWoeful; sorrowful.

  • miserableIn a state of misery: very sad, ill, or poor.
  • atrabiliary
  • atrabilious
  • blithelessWithout happiness or joy; unjoyful; sorrowful; sad.
  • dispiritedWithout energy, gusto or drive, enervated, without the will to accomplish, disheartened.
  • blueDepressed, melancholic, sad.
  • bummed outDepressed, disappointed, in a gloomy mood.
  • chapfallenCrestfallen, dejected.
  • cheerlessDevoid of cheer; gloomy.
  • chopfallenSynonym of chapfallen.
  • crestfallen
  • cut up Australia, UKEmotionally upset; mentally distressed.
  • damp figuratively
  • dejectedSad and dispirited.
  • depressedUnhappy; despondent.
  • despondentIn low spirits from loss of hope or courage.
  • disgruntledIn a dissatisfied, frustrated, or upset mood; in a bad temper or ill humour.
  • disconsolateSeemingly beyond consolation; inconsolable.
  • disheartenedDiscouraged, despairing.
  • dismalDepressing, dreary, cheerless.
  • dolefulFilled with grief, mournful, bringing feelings of sadness.
  • dolesomeCharacterised or marked by sorrow and grief; doleful; dismal; gloomy.
  • downSad, unhappy, depressed, feeling low.
  • down in the dumpsSad; lacking engagement or enthusiasm.
  • down in the mouthSad or discouraged, especially as indicated by one's facial appearance.
  • downcastOf a person: feeling despondent or discouraged.
  • downheartedSad, discouraged, in low spirits, unhappy, having no hope.
  • downsomeLow-spirited; melancholy.
  • dullBored, depressed, down.
  • elegiacExpressing sorrow or mourning.
  • elegiousMelancholy, miserable, plaintive.
  • forlornPitifully sad, wretched, miserable; lonely, especially from feeling abandoned, deserted, forsaken.
  • gloomySuffering from gloom; melancholy; dejected.
  • glumDespondent; moody; sullen.
  • grief-strickenVery sad.
  • grievingFeeling or showing sorrow or distress due to loss, especially the death of someone.
  • heavy-heartedSad, melancholic.
  • heartsickVery despondent or sorrowful; heartsore.
  • inconsolableNot consolable; unable to be consoled or comforted, usually due to grief, disappointment, or other distress.
  • infelicitous
  • jawfallenDejected, dispirited.
  • joylessWithout joy; unhappy, sad.
  • lachrymoseTearful, sorrowful, sad, pertaining to tears, weeping, causing tears or crying.
  • lowDepressed in mood, dejected, sad.
  • low-spiritedDisheartened, feeling low, in low spirits.
  • lugubriousGloomy, mournful or dismal, especially to an exaggerated degree.
  • melancholicFilled with or affected by melancholy—great sadness or depression, especially of a thoughtful or introspective nature.
  • moodySulky or depressed.
  • mopeyGiven to moping; in a depressed condition, low in spirits; lackadaisical.
  • moroseSullen, gloomy; showing a brooding ill humour.
  • mournfulFilled with grief or sadness; being in a state in which one mourns.
  • plaintiveSounding sorrowful, mournful or melancholic.
  • PlutonianOf, relating to, or having characteristics associated with the underworld; dark, gloomy; mournful.
  • PlutonicSynonym of Plutonian (“of, relating to, or having characteristics associated with the underworld; dark, gloomy...
  • querulousOften complaining; suggesting a complaint in expression; fretful, whining.
  • ruthfulFull of sorrow; sorrowful; woeful; rueful.
  • sad
  • saddened
  • saturnineOf a person: having a tendency to be cold and gloomy.
  • shatteredEmotionally defeated or dispirited.
  • solemn
  • sombreMelancholic, gloomy, dreary, dismal; grim.
  • sorrowfulExhibiting sorrow; dejected; distraught; sad. (of a person).
  • sorrow-riddenFilled with sorrow or sorrows.
  • sorrowsomeMarked by sorrow; sad; dreary; sorrowful.
  • spiritlessLacking energy, drive, motivation or emotion. Enervated.
  • sullenGloomy; dismal; foreboding.
  • threneticSorrowful; mournful.
  • threneticalThrenetic.
  • uncheerfulNot cheerful.
  • uncheeryNot cheery; gloomy, pessimistic.
  • unconsolableSynonym of inconsolable.
  • unhappyNot happy; sad.
  • unlivelyNot lively.
  • wistfulSad and thoughtful.
  • woebegoneOf a person: deeply affected or overwhelmed by suffering or trouble, and so filled with woe (“great distress or...
  • woefulFull of woe; sorrowful; distressed with grief or calamity.
  • wretchedCharacterized by or feeling deep affliction or distress; very miserable.
  • lamentful rareReplete with lamentation; mournful.
  • lumpish obsoleteMiserable, sad.

Opposite of woe

nounMore antonyms

  • benefit
  • boon
  • fortune
  • joyA feeling of extreme happiness or cheerfulness, especially related to the acquisition or expectation of something good.
  • laugh
  • treat

Meaning of woe

  1. noun Great sadness or distress; a misfortune causing such sadness.
  2. noun Calamity, trouble.
  3. noun A curse; a malediction.

Full definition of woe

woe in other languages

Questions about synonyms of woe

What is another word for woe?
Woe has 120 synonyms on Word.ws, such as ill-being, depression, misery, sorrow, grief, distress, sadness and unhappiness.
What is the opposite of woe?
The opposite of woe is joy.
What does woe mean?
Woe means great sadness or distress; a misfortune causing such sadness.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: woe (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 woe.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/synonyms/woe. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.