dolorously

adverb

as in bitterly
with feelings of bitterness or grief another country singer wailing dolorously about the faithless woman who done him wrong

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for dolorously
  1. bitterly
  2. sorrowfully
  3. sadly
  4. mournfully
  5. painfully
Adverb
  • The country is already bitterly divided, with far-left and far-right parties leading opinion polls ahead of presidential elections next year.
    — Morgan Chalfant, semafor.com, 7 Oct. 2026
  • Although the father of the proposal, Dave Regan, is the president of a union, the labor movement is bitterly divided over the effort.
    — Nicholas Lemann, New Yorker, 4 Oct. 2026
Definition of bitterly
Adverb
  • Tarun would tease her, and my mother would look sorrowfully toward Kavitha, as if the two of them now shared some womanly burden.
    — Madhuri Vijay, New Yorker, 16 Nov. 2025
Definition of sorrowfully
Adverb
  • Swift’s hubby Travis Kelce, however, was sadly absent from the show, as the NFL star had a Chiefs game against the Miami Dolphins in Florida today.
    — Christina Perrier, InStyle, 28 Sep. 2026
  • The dine-in omakase counter has sadly departed, but in its stead, Café Sushi Shoten has adopted a to-go model paired with Japanese groceries and sundries that is no less authentic, engaging, and delicious.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 26 Sep. 2026
Definition of sadly
Adverb
  • Fra Fee, as Joe, has a slightly harder task, since his role is almost entirely reactive; while Ethan bangs on mournfully about, effectively, the dangers of shagging your brother’s wife — well, who would have thought?
    — Damon Wise, Deadline, 13 Sep. 2026
  • Mayfield watched mournfully in his kitchen while the rest of the family sat in the living room with the big screen next to a Christmas tree.
    — John Romano, The Orlando Sentinel, 19 July 2026
Definition of mournfully
Adverb
  • For the past three decades, defense procurement was a stagnant oligopoly dominated by a handful of massive legacy prime contractors and painfully slow cost-plus research-and-development cycles.
    — Harvey Stober, CNBC, 2 Oct. 2026
  • Life opened like a zipper, separating them painfully at first, notch by notch, then faster, wider, until the garment lay split in two.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 30 Sep. 2026
Definition of painfully
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

dolorous
dolorously
dolorousness
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Cite this Entry

“Dolorously.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dolorously. Accessed 9 Oct. 2026.

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