SADNESS Synonyms: 105 Similar and Opposite Words

sadness

noun

Definition of sadness

as in melancholy

a state or spell of low spirits she was filled with sadness at the thought of having to leave her family

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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.

Recent Examples of sadness Beat shows how so many of the sounds that were prevalent in the mid-’90s contained a unique, end-of-the century sadness. — Sadie Sartini Garner, Pitchfork, 4 Oct. 2026 People can experience grief, sadness, relief, conflict or combinations of these emotions after any pregnancy outcome. — Arkansas Online, 3 Oct. 2026 Melumad turned to the harp, an instrument Alex’s mother played, to evoke warmth, nostalgia and sadness. — Jazz Tangcay, Variety, 3 Oct. 2026 This divorce story is not about sadness, disappointment, personal limitations, or heartbreak. — Rafaela Bassili, Vulture, 2 Oct. 2026 Change this to a charity advertisement, and you get bombarded with hyperbolic sadness, the old people’s tears, their loneliness. — Alicja Turczyk, The Dial, 29 Sep. 2026 Deeper than mere sadness, and more visceral than fear, significant discomfort is the ultimate motivator for immediate action. — New Atlas, 28 Sep. 2026 What readers are saying The comments express deep sadness and sympathy for the loss of Rip, a loyal Great Pyrenees dog, who died while trying to protect another animal. — Dana Hedgpeth, Washington Post, 27 Sep. 2026 We are all chewed up with the sadness at the loss of a woman who was not even our mother. — Bailey Bujnosek, InStyle, 23 Sep. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for sadness

Noun

The question for me is whether or not Lloyd will also manage to capture the melancholy of a deceptively serious play, notwithstanding its reputation.

— Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune, 23 Sep. 2026
On the one hand, there’s a fascination with collective joy and the forms of vernacular invention that aspire to it; on the other, there’s an underlying melancholy that points to the inevitability of isolation, an epistemology of loneliness.

— Pablo Larios, Artforum, 1 Sep. 2026

Definition of melancholy

Noun

The initiative’s goal is by 2030 to have empowered 3 million people to recognize the early signs of anxiety and depression, and take steps toward helping those.

— Jennifer Weil, Footwear News, 8 Oct. 2026
In addition to fentanyl, toxicology tests detected alprazolam, commonly known as Xanax; the muscle relaxant methocarbamol; and quetiapine, a medication primarily used to treat schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and, in some cases, depression.

— Nancy Dillon, Rolling Stone, 8 Oct. 2026

Definition of depression

Noun

Because so many of Gunn’s friends died in San Francisco, a city where Gunn had found happiness and freedom, then these elegies are also a monument to a time of communal sorrow and mourning.

— Colm Tóibín, Literary Hub, 30 Sep. 2026
Another decision that those who are rejected face, at least if anger is mixed in with sorrow, is where to direct that anger.

— George Loewenstein, Vogue, 28 Sep. 2026

Definition of sorrow

Noun

Common issues include grief, divorce or exploring childhood trauma.

— Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 8 Oct. 2026
Harry seems more at home in conversation with O’Connor, his eyes searching for answers to soft-spoken queries about grief’s effect on the brain, then lighting up with warmth at the memory of Diana.

— Savannah Walsh, Vanity Fair, 8 Oct. 2026

Definition of grief

Noun

And while there’d been some unhappiness between her and the Borden girls a few years before the murders — a disagreement over a property the family owned — there wasn’t the kind of outright resentment portrayed in the show.

— Elisabeth Garber-Paul, Rolling Stone, 23 Sep. 2026
The post and later comments arrived two months before the midterm elections, where Americans’ unhappiness with persistent high inflation has been a dominant theme.

— Kevin Breuninger, CNBC, 4 Sep. 2026

Definition of unhappiness

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sadly

sadness

safari

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

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Synonyms of sadness

noun

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