wailfully

adverb

as in sadly
with feelings of bitterness or grief the lost child wailfully kept asking for his mother

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for wailfully
  1. sadly
  2. bitterly
  3. sorrowfully
  4. painfully
  5. mournfully
  6. hard
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
  • 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
  • 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
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
  • And as direct as the ad is (more on it in a moment), the film goes even harder.
    — Steven Zeitchik, HollywoodReporter, 5 Oct. 2026
  • Beshear has also campaigned and advertised hard for Democratic candidate Zach Dembo, who is taking on GOP candidate Ralph Alvarado in the open 6th District seat around Lexington.
    — Molly Parks, The Washington Examiner, 5 Oct. 2026
Definition of hard
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

wail (for)
wailfully
wailing
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Cite this Entry

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

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