1
as in emotional
given to expressing strong emotion (as sorrow) by readily shedding tears
a tearful woman who can be counted on to cry at every wedding, anniversary, and funeral
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in sad
causing unhappiness
the tearful end to what had once been a close friendship
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of tearful
Or a tearful Villanova piccolo player soldiering through in the wake of a loss.
—
Joe Rexrode, The Athletic, 24 Mar. 2025
In another post, Chopra shared a tearful emoji and a heart-smiling emoji over a photo of the musical's official Playbill.
—Dave Quinn, People.com, 21 Mar. 2025
Drummond ends up dead, Mark uses his tie, stained with Drummond's blood, to gain access to the room where Gemma has been ordered to disassemble a baby’s crib, and the couple have a tearful reunion and head for the exits.
—Gary Levin, USA TODAY, 21 Mar. 2025
In a night full of tearful pauses, Yates and the designer Rosanna Vize, one of the show’s four creators, also find several ways to produce a sense of farce.
—Helen Shaw, The New Yorker, 20 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for tearful
Joe Rexrode, The Athletic, 24 Mar. 2025
In another post, Chopra shared a tearful emoji and a heart-smiling emoji over a photo of the musical's official Playbill.
—Dave Quinn, People.com, 21 Mar. 2025
Drummond ends up dead, Mark uses his tie, stained with Drummond's blood, to gain access to the room where Gemma has been ordered to disassemble a baby’s crib, and the couple have a tearful reunion and head for the exits.
—Gary Levin, USA TODAY, 21 Mar. 2025
In a night full of tearful pauses, Yates and the designer Rosanna Vize, one of the show’s four creators, also find several ways to produce a sense of farce.
—Helen Shaw, The New Yorker, 20 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for tearful
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tearful
Adjective
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Her emotional response and (to be fair, unethical) choice to threaten the guy suggest to the viewer that Dr. Santos herself experienced a similar kind of trauma as a child.—
Kathleen Walsh,
Glamour,
10 Apr. 2025
-
For Liv in particular, their idea of what that final ride on the plane was going to be was an emotional one.—
Jackie Strause,
HollywoodReporter,
10 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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Yet, whatever the deal means for Paul, Weiss, its acquiescence to Trump marks a sad day for the legal profession—or what once was a profession, and is now just another business.—
Ruth Marcus,
New Yorker,
27 Mar. 2025
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Kwong grew up hearing stories of every kind about Manzanar—scary, sad, funny and infuriating.—
Rachel Ng,
Smithsonian Magazine,
27 Mar. 2025
Adjective
-
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
-
The show manages to stay on the brink — always laughing, never quite weeping — for its entire length.—
Helen Shaw,
Vulture,
8 Dec. 2021
Adjective
-
Some people thought that was too depressing or whatever.—
Monica Mercuri,
Forbes.com,
7 Apr. 2025
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Many learned the depressing answer only when trying to scan badges and getting rejected by security, which treated them more or less like trespassers.—
New York Daily News Editorial Board,
New York Daily News,
5 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
Hechinger is the perfect choice for the role, bringing just the right of optimism and obliviousness to an endearingly pathetic dork who finds the opportunity to be heroic.—
Peter Debruge,
Variety,
2 Apr. 2025
-
Successful long ago, Shelley is no longer a selling Machine of any sort, and mostly just begs for a break in comically desperate appeals that ping-pong from belligerent to pathetic.—
Greg Evans,
Deadline,
31 Mar. 2025
Adjective
-
The coughing fits and teary eyes that come with that moment are why smokeless fire pits have shot to the top of so many wish lists in recent years.—
Clint Davis,
People.com,
22 Mar. 2025
-
Jamie’s phone-call confession sends Eddie into a teary existential crisis, one that ends with Eddie in Jamie’s bedroom, where his teen son tumbled down the social-media rabbit hole and peed his pants when cops came to arrest him.—
Roxana Hadadi,
Vulture,
22 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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This is a love story, after all, and one with a keen grasp of the mournful, curious glances between its two leads — of how much goes untranslated between them, and how much is conveyed.—
Sheri Linden,
New York Times,
27 Mar. 2025
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In a circular frame at the center of the screen, still images and footage of the deceased played over the swelling, mournful music in a static shot anchoring the four-and-a-half-minute segment, which was capped off by a final photograph of Hackman.—
Dade Hayes,
Deadline,
2 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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The music icon confessed to getting weepy about aging during a bonus episode of the podcast Smartless, which was released to subscribers on Tuesday, March 25 — John's 78th birthday.—
Daniel R. Depetris,
Newsweek,
25 Mar. 2025
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Zoe Saldaña got weepy and impassioned in an acceptance speech that honored her immigrant parents as well as her Dominican heritage.—
Ben Travers,
IndieWire,
3 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Tearful.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tearful. Accessed 16 Apr. 2025.
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