Mournful — Meaning, Definition & Synonyms

Mournful (adjective) — Senses, Synonyms & Antonyms

1. expressing or suggesting mourning

   "she had such a mournful expression that someone teasingly asked if her dog had died"

   similar: aching, agonized, anguished, bemoaning, bewailing, bitter, deploring, doleful, dolesome, dolorous, funeral, grieving, heartbroken, lamentable, lugubrious, plaintive, plangent, regretful, rueful, sorrowful, sorry, wailing, weeping, woeful
   related: dirgelike, elegiac, melancholy, dejected, depressed, despondent, disconsolate, dispirited, downcast, downhearted, heartsick, heartsore, inconsolable, tearful, brokenhearted, careworn, crestfallen, forlorn, gloomy, glum, low-spirited, miserable, sad, triste, unhappy, woebegone, bawling, crying, groaning, howling, keening, moaning, yammering, bleeding, suffering, black, bleak, cheerless, comfortless, dark, darkening, desolate, dismal, dreary, funereal, gray, joyless, low, moody, morbid, morose, pathetic, pessimistic, piteous, saturnine, somber, sullen, wretched
   near: delighted, exulting, glorying, happy, joyful, rejoicing, triumphant, bright, cheerful, cheering, cheery, laughing, smiling, blissful, blithe, blithesome, buoyant, jocund, jolly, joyous, lighthearted, merry, mirthful, encouraging, hopeful, optimistic, ecstatic, elated, euphoric, exhilarated, giddy, heady, rapturous, rhapsodic

2. feeling unhappiness

   "the mournful survivors of the disaster were faced with the grim task of burying the dead"

   similar: bad, blue, brokenhearted, cast down, crestfallen, dejected, depressed, despondent, disconsolate, doleful, down, down in the mouth, downcast, downhearted, droopy, forlorn, gloomy, glum, hangdog, heartbroken, heartsick, heartsore, heavyhearted, inconsolable, joyless, low, low-spirited, melancholic, melancholy, miserable, sad, saddened, sorrowful, sorry, unhappy, woebegone, woeful, wretched
   related: aggrieved, distressed, troubled, uneasy, unquiet, upset, worried, despairing, hopeless, sunk, disappointed, discouraged, disheartened, dispirited, suicidal, dolorous, lachrymose, lugubrious, plaintive, tearful, regretful, rueful, agonized, anguished, grieving, wailing, weeping, black, bleak, cheerless, comfortless, dark, darkening, depressing, desolate, dismal, drear, dreary, elegiac, funereal, gray, morbid, morose, murky, saturnine, somber, sullen
   opposite: blissful, buoyant, buoyed, cheerful, cheery, chipper, delighted, glad, gladdened, gladsome, gleeful, happy, joyful, joyous, jubilant, sunny, upbeat
   near: ecstatic, elated, enraptured, entranced, euphoric, exhilarated, exuberant, exultant, overjoyed, rapturous, rhapsodic, blithe, blithesome, jocose, jocular, jocund, jolly, jovial, lightsome, merry, mirthful, excited, thrilled, hopeful, optimistic, rosy, sanguine, encouraged, heartened, animated, bouncing, energetic, frisky, jaunty, lively, peppy, perky, spirited, sprightful, sprightly, springy, vital, vivacious, zippy, content, gratified, pleased, satisfied, beaming, grinning, laughing, smiling, boon, carefree, careless, cavalier, devil-may-care, easygoing, happy-go-lucky, insouciant, lighthearted, unconcerned

3. causing unhappiness

   "the mournful death of a beloved entertainer"

   similar: depressing, dismal, drear, dreary, heartbreaking, heartrending, melancholy, pathetic, sad, saddening, sorry, tearful, teary
   related: deplorable, distressful, grievous, lamentable, unfortunate, woeful, discomforting, discomposing, disquieting, distressing, disturbing, perturbing, affecting, moving, poignant, touching, discouraging, disheartening, dispiriting
   opposite: cheering, cheery, glad, happy
   near: heartening, heartwarming, inspiring, stimulating, stirring, uplifting, agreeable, delightful, enjoyable, pleasant, pleasing, pleasurable, satisfying, welcome, exhilarating, thrilling