saddensad‧den /ˈsædn/ verb [transitive] formal 
Verb Table Examples
Those who knew him are saddened by his death.it saddens somebody that It saddened him that they no longer trusted him.—saddening adjective
Verb TableVERB TABLE
sadden
| Simple Form | ||
| Present | I, you, we, they | sadden |
| he, she, it | saddens | |
| Past | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | saddened |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have saddened |
| he, she, it | has saddened | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had saddened |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will sadden |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have saddened |
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
Thesaurus- Everyone was saddened by the news that housing is to be built on the fields beside Cliff Lane.
- It saddens me that there are people who go around vandalizing public places like this.
- Sometimes it saddened him to think that he was no longer young.
- Those of us who knew him are shocked and saddened by his death.
- It does sadden him, but he believes that Juice will maybe explain a few of the pressures kids are under.
Longman Language Activatorto make someone feel sad► make somebody (feel) sad/unhappy
Word family · Something at school was making her unhappy, but she didn't want to talk about it.it makes somebody sad/unhappy to do something · It made me sad to see her looking so old and ill.
► upset to make someone feel sad and want to cry: · I'm sorry if I upset you - I didn't mean to.· The idea of having to change school seemed to upset him more than we thought it would.it upsets somebody to do something: · Her father died when she was ten, and it still upsets her to think about it.
► sadden if a situation or event saddens someone, it makes them feel sad, especially because they think that this type of situation or event should not happen: · Everyone was saddened by the news that housing is to be built on the fields beside Cliff Lane.· Those of us who knew him are shocked and saddened by his death.it saddens somebody to do something: · Sometimes it saddened him to think that he was no longer young.it saddens somebody that : · It saddens me that there are people who go around vandalizing public places like this.
► depress to make someone feel very sad or unhappy, especially so that they feel that only bad things happen and they cannot change the situation: · Listening to the news can really depress you, if you let it.· Shaun decided to leave. The way the others were behaving was beginning to depress him.it depresses somebody to do something: · It depressed me to think that five years ago I was earning more than I do now.
► get somebody down informal to gradually make someone feel unhappy and tired over a period of time: · The endless rain was beginning to get him down.· You can tell me if there's anything that's worrying you or getting you down.
► break somebody's heart to make someone very sad and upset, especially because a relationship has ended or because they are very disappointed: · When Annie left him, it broke his heart.it breaks somebody's heart (that): · It breaks my heart that his career has been ruined.it breaks somebody's heart to do something: · It would break her heart to leave the lovely old stone house where she'd lived for so long.
► be a downer spoken if something is a downer , it makes you feel unhappy, especially because it is not good or successful: · I thought the movie was going to be a total downer, but it wasn't.on a downer: · The home team concluded its season on a big downer with a 2- 0 defeat.
► drive somebody to despair to make someone feel very unhappy and without hope - use this especially when a bad situation is continuing and they cannot see how to change it: · There were times when the endless arguments drove him to despair.· By the time I was 17, the atmosphere at the school was driving me to despair.
WORD FAMILYnounsadnesssaddoadjectivesadsaddeningverbsaddenadverbsadly
to make someone feel sad: Those who knew him are saddened by his death.it saddens somebody that It saddened him that they no longer trusted him.—saddening adjective