tearful
/ˈtɪəfʊl
/ /ˈtɪəf(ə)l/adjective
1Crying or inclined to cry: a tearful infant Stephen felt tearful...
- No one can fail to be moved by the sight of a tearful mother wailing for her dead child.
- It was an unhappy and sometimes tearful female who in the evening could not imagine how to face her job next morning.
- Even though everybody is under 13, the room is quiet except for some tearful whimpers of fear and anticipated pain.
Synonyms
in tears, crying, weeping, sobbing, wailing, snivelling, whimpering;
close to tears, on the verge of tears, with tears in one's eyes;
emotional, upset, distressed, sad, unhappy;
Scottish greeting
informal weepy, teary, blubbering, blubbing
rare lachrymose, larmoyant
1.1Causing tears; sad or emotional: a tearful farewell...
- The film runs the gamut of emotions from tearful sickbed scenes to ruthless black comedy.
- More than 2,000 people bade a tearful farewell to the man credited with having a huge impact in his fight for progress for the black community.
- Girls from the Leaving Certificate classes brought along roses in a tearful farewell to their friend.
Synonyms
emotional, upsetting, distressing, sad, heartbreaking, heart-rending, sorrowful;
poignant, moving, touching, tear-jerking, affecting, pathetic
literary dolorous
Derivatives
tearfulness
- Symptoms may include feelings of sadness, tearfulness, and a sense of hopelessness.
- Patients with delirium may display a wide range of emotions, including anxiety, sadness or tearfulness, and euphoria.
- These almost forgotten painters were the radical artists of their time - social realists, albeit with a heavy dose of melodramatic tearfulness.