rueful
adjective
rue·ful ˈrü-fəl 
1
: exciting pity or sympathy : pitiable
rueful squalid poverty … by every wayside
John Morley
John Morley2
: mournful, regretful
troubled her with a rueful disquiet W. M. Thackeray
W. M. Thackeray ruefully
ˈrü-fə-lē
adverb ruefulness noun
Synonyms
- aching
- agonized
- anguished
- bemoaning
- bewailing
- bitter
- deploring
- doleful
- dolesome
- dolorous
- funeral
- grieving
- heartbroken
- lamentable
- lugubrious
- mournful
- plaintive
- plangent
- regretful
- sorrowful
- sorry
- wailing
- weeping
- woeful
See all Synonyms & Antonyms 
Example Sentences
He gave me a rueful smile and apologized. the rueful faces of friends and family who had gathered to pay their last respects
Recent Examples on the Web The rueful history of the early AIDS epidemic serves as yet another backdrop. Benjamin Ryan, NBC News, 2 Sep. 2022 The play is an end-of-the-Elizabethan-age work, full of wry contempt for its own pastoral form and rueful melancholy for a golden age already in sunset. Helen Shaw, The New Yorker, 1 Sep. 2022 Dorsey was less elaborate Thursday in his thoughts on Twitter’s state of being, though no less rueful about his creation. Jacob Carpenter, Fortune, 26 Aug. 2022 Game of Thrones had a rueful sense of humor to go along with its violence and mind games, and highly quotable characters like Tyrion and Cersei. Larisha Paul, Rolling Stone, 26 Aug. 2022 Game of Thrones had a rueful sense of humor to go along with its violence and mind games, and highly quotable characters like Tyrion and Cersei. Larisha Paul, Rolling Stone, 26 Aug. 2022 Game of Thrones had a rueful sense of humor to go along with its violence and mind games, and highly quotable characters like Tyrion and Cersei. James Hibberd, The Hollywood Reporter, 19 Aug. 2022 After months of auditioning teenagers who might lend this rueful morality tale a note of optimism without losing the rue, the role of Mary Flynn proved hardest to fill — until the creative team heard Morrison. Maryrose Wood, Variety, 12 Aug. 2022 This rueful sense of difference and limitation erodes as a more toxic narrative emerges. Rebecca Steinitz, BostonGlobe.com, 11 Aug. 2022 See More
Benjamin Ryan, NBC News, 2 Sep. 2022 The play is an end-of-the-Elizabethan-age work, full of wry contempt for its own pastoral form and rueful melancholy for a golden age already in sunset. Helen Shaw, The New Yorker, 1 Sep. 2022 Dorsey was less elaborate Thursday in his thoughts on Twitter’s state of being, though no less rueful about his creation. Jacob Carpenter, Fortune, 26 Aug. 2022 Game of Thrones had a rueful sense of humor to go along with its violence and mind games, and highly quotable characters like Tyrion and Cersei. Larisha Paul, Rolling Stone, 26 Aug. 2022 Game of Thrones had a rueful sense of humor to go along with its violence and mind games, and highly quotable characters like Tyrion and Cersei. Larisha Paul, Rolling Stone, 26 Aug. 2022 Game of Thrones had a rueful sense of humor to go along with its violence and mind games, and highly quotable characters like Tyrion and Cersei. James Hibberd, The Hollywood Reporter, 19 Aug. 2022 After months of auditioning teenagers who might lend this rueful morality tale a note of optimism without losing the rue, the role of Mary Flynn proved hardest to fill — until the creative team heard Morrison. Maryrose Wood, Variety, 12 Aug. 2022 This rueful sense of difference and limitation erodes as a more toxic narrative emerges. Rebecca Steinitz, BostonGlobe.com, 11 Aug. 2022 See More Word History
First Known Use
13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Kids Definition
rueful
adjective
rue·ful ˈrü-fəl
1
: exciting pity or sympathy
2
: mournful sense 1, regretful
rueful
adjective
1
as in mournful
expressing or suggesting mourning the rueful faces of friends and family who had gathered to pay their last respects Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- mournful
- weeping
- heartbroken
- bitter
- funeral
- melancholy
- regretful
- doleful
- sorrowful
- anguished
- tearful
- sad
- grieving
- plaintive
- lugubrious
- wailing
- lamentable
- somber
- plangent
- agonized
- dolorous
- sorry
- unhappy
- aching
- woeful
- bewailing
- deploring
- morbid
- bemoaning
- bleak
- depressed
- elegiac
- crying
- funereal
- keening
- dark
- pathetic
- dejected
- dolesome
- glum
- crestfallen
- disconsolate
- heartsick
- groaning
- downcast
- forlorn
- woebegone
- miserable
- dispirited
- darkening
- moody
- downcast
- despondent
- moaning
- gloomy
- careworn
- downhearted
- sullen
- morose
- inconsolable
- piteous
- pessimistic
- downhearted
- glum
- cheerless
- howling
- desolate
- brokenhearted
- miserable
- saturnine
- elegiacal
- heartsore
- gloomy
- joyless
- bawling
- suffering
- gray
- triste
- low
- dismal
- bleeding
- sombre
- low-spirited
- wretched
- black
- dirgelike
- yammering
- dreary
- comfortless
- grey
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- triumphant
- joyful
- cheerful
- happy
- cheery
- smiling
- delighted
- bright
- laughing
- joyous
- mirthful
- blithe
- lighthearted
- optimistic
- merry
- jolly
- exulting
- buoyant
- blissful
- hopeful
- rejoicing
- encouraging
- rapturous
- glorying
- giddy
- rhapsodic
- jocund
- blithesome
- ecstatic
- euphoric
- cheering
- heady
- rhapsodical
- exhilarated
- elated
2
as in regretful
feeling sorrow for a wrong that one has done a rueful youth who had come to ask for forgiveness for online bullying Synonyms & Similar Words
- regretful
- remorseful
- ashamed
- sorry
- apologetic
- contrite
- repentant
- penitent
- sheepish
- shamefaced
- mournful
- plaintive
- sorrowful
- compunctious
- lugubrious
- weeping
- dolorous
- wailing
- grieving
- woeful
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- unapologetic
- remorseless
- pitiless
- unrepentant
- cruel
- ruthless
- merciless
- impenitent
- unmerciful
- unashamed
- shameless
- compassionless
3
as in pitiful
deserving of one's pity the rueful, desperate poverty of people in parts of the Third World Synonyms & Similar Words
- pitiful
- pathetic
- poor
- miserable
- wretched
- sorry
- piteous
- sad
- mournful
- pitiable
- heartbreaking
- disturbing
- poignant
- lamentable
- regrettable
- impressive
- terrible
- horrible
- emotional
- heartrending
- inspiring
- sorrowful
- deplorable
- awful
- touching
- affecting
- moving
- stirring
- upsetting
- distressing
- grievous
- woeful
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- unimpressive
- uninspiring