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
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in sorry
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
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in pitiful
deserving of one's pity
the rueful, desperate poverty of people in parts of the Third World
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of rueful
Perkins’s follow-up, The Monkey—adapted from a short story by Stephen King—is another tonally wild take on the horror genre: arch, gleefully gory, and played for dark, rueful laughs.
—
David Sims, The Atlantic, 21 Feb. 2025
On Wednesday, the designers were rueful about stepping down, but looked back on their long New York fashion adventure with fondness.
—Miles Socha, WWD, 15 Jan. 2025
Nothing’s third episode, Kris Kristofferson’s rueful ballad is very much the latter.
—Sophie Brookover, Vulture, 24 Dec. 2024
What’s a cocky teenage boy to an English teacher in middle life and his rueful wife?
—Amanda Whiting, Vulture, 18 Oct. 2024
See All Example Sentences for rueful
David Sims, The Atlantic, 21 Feb. 2025
On Wednesday, the designers were rueful about stepping down, but looked back on their long New York fashion adventure with fondness.
—Miles Socha, WWD, 15 Jan. 2025
Nothing’s third episode, Kris Kristofferson’s rueful ballad is very much the latter.
—Sophie Brookover, Vulture, 24 Dec. 2024
What’s a cocky teenage boy to an English teacher in middle life and his rueful wife?
—Amanda Whiting, Vulture, 18 Oct. 2024
See All Example Sentences for rueful
Recent Examples of Synonyms for rueful
Adjective
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The Defender published several obituaries, mournful but proud.—
Victor Luckerson,
Smithsonian Magazine,
13 May 2025
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Trump, meanwhile, drew the public’s attention for wearing a dark blue suit and a lighter blue tie in a sea of mournful black attire.—
Darlene Superville,
Los Angeles Times,
26 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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Very sorry to hear about McKenzie not able to make progress.—
Zack Meisel,
New York Times,
2 June 2025
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And, sorry to be the bearer of even more bad news, the same applies to your smartphone PIN code.—
Davey Winder,
Forbes.com,
31 May 2025
Adjective
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The pitiful performance by the Texas Rangers against the Toronto Blue Jays in the 2016 divisional round.—
Mac Engel,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
30 May 2025
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But the rates were pitiful: $9.87 for a 13-mile trip, $19.97 for a 25-mile trip and so on.—
Eli Tan,
New York Times,
14 May 2025
Adjective
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And every day, across from them, outside the clinic, about to enter or just leaving, there were women hugging each other and weeping.—
David Mamet,
National Review,
11 Aug. 2022
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The show manages to stay on the brink — always laughing, never quite weeping — for its entire length.—
Helen Shaw,
Vulture,
8 Dec. 2021
Adjective
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To lose a series to the Edmonton Oilers is nothing to be ashamed about.—
Mark Lazerus,
New York Times,
30 May 2025
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While red, inflamed skin was often seen as the norm, my flares—ranging from deep brown or purplish dry patches to clusters of tiny, itchy bumps—looked more like a disease to be feared and ashamed of rather than understood and treated.—
Raelle Kennedy,
Health,
12 May 2025
Adjective
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Anyone who tells you different is a liar (and pathetic, and alone in life).—
Rob Sheffield,
Rolling Stone,
30 May 2025
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The politicized fantasy and horror films by Ryan Coogler and Jordan Peele are merely pathetic.—
Armond White,
National Review,
23 May 2025
Adjective
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The second track on the LP told the story of a heartbroken barmaid pining after a sailor who refused to give up his nomadically maritime lifestyle for her.—
Josh Weiss,
Forbes.com,
6 June 2025
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Courtesy of Lionsgate The heartbroken little girl with the ballerina music box will grow up to be Ana de Armas’ Eve Macarro, a young woman bent on—what else?—avenging her father’s murder.—
Stephanie Zacharek,
Time,
6 June 2025
Adjective
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Sorensen wrote in a sentencing memo that Smith – a disabled Marine Corps veteran with three children – is remorseful and takes responsibility for his actions.—
Sara Schilling,
Sacbee.com,
23 May 2025
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The men should have been there, looking remorseful, but during the first two hearings at which a total of 23 men were charged, only two came in person.—
Wendy Murphy,
Boston Herald,
27 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Rueful.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rueful. Accessed 11 Jun. 2025.
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