sorrowful, a.
(ˈsɒrəʊfʊl)
Forms: α. 1–3 sorhful(l, 3 soreh-, seor(u)hful, sorþfolle; 1 sorᵹ-, 3 sorȝ-, 4 sorghful(l, zorȝuol(le; 3–4 sorful, -fol, 4 -uol, zoruol-, 5 sorefull(e, soyrefull. β. 3 serrh-, serehful; 4 serwȝful, 5 serwh-, sereuh-, ser(e)u-, serwful. γ. 3–4 soreuful, 3–5 sorw(e)ful(le. δ. 3–5 soru-, 4–6 soroful(l, 5 sorrofull; 3–6 sorow-, 4–6 sorouful(l, 5– sorrowful (5–7 -full); 6 Sc. sorro(w)fow.
[OE. sorh-, sorᵹful (f. sorh, sorᵹ sorrow n.), = OHG. sorgful (G. sorgvoll, usually sorgenvoll), ON. sorgfullr (Norw. and Sw. sorgfull, Da. -fuld) and sorgafullr, LG. sörg(e)ful.]
1. Full of, oppressed by, sorrow or grief; unhappy, sad, regretful.
| α Beowulf 2119 Grendeles modor siðode sorhfull. c 897 K. ælfred Gregory's Past. C. xxvi. 183 Se weleᵹa bið eaðmod & sorᵹfull. c 1000 ælfric Judg. x. 10 Oð þæt hiᵹ..heora synna andetton mid sorhfullum mode. a 1200 Vices & Virtues 83 Sari and sorhfull am ic. c 1205 Lay. 1477 Þe king wes swiðe særi & seorhful on mode. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 2326 He..nam ðo breðere euerilk on, And ledde hem sorful a-gon. c 1275 Lay. 15489 Þo was sori þe king and sorþfolle þorh alle þing. c 1300 Havelok 151 Alle þat the writes herden Sorful an sori til him ferden. 1390 Gower Conf. I. 203 This sorghfull king was so bestad, That he schal nevermor be glad. 1422 tr. Secreta Secret., Priv. Priv. 199 He became mournynge and Sorefull. |
| β c 1200 Ormin 7153 He wass forrdredd & serrhfull inn hiss herrte. a 1400 Pistill of Susan 144 Þen Susan was serwful, and seide in hire þouȝt. a 1400 Vernon MS. in Herrig's Archiv LVII. 250/1 So sereuhful was þis Bisschope, Þat almost he fel in wonhope. |
| γ c 1300 Havelok 1248 Sory and sorwful was she ay. c 1385 Chaucer L.G.W. Prol. 390 If so be he may hym nat ascuse [He] axith mercy with a sorweful herte. |
| δ c 1205 Lay. 167 Þa wes Turnus sari, & soruful on his mode. a 1325 Prose Psalter l. 18 Þou, God, ne shal nouȝt despisen þe hert sorowful and meke. a 1340 Hampole Psalter cxlvi. 3 Þai þat offirs til him þe sacrifice of sorouful gast. c 1400 Pilgr. Sowle (Caxton) i. xxxix. (1859) 43 Ful sorrowful was this Sathanas when he sawe [etc.]. 1495 Act 11 Hen. VII, c. 57 Preamble, Your seid Suppliaunt is as sorrowfull and repentant as any creature may be. 1535 Coverdale 1 Esdras viii. 71, I rent my holy garmentes, and..sat me downe soroufull & heuy. 1560 Rolland Seven Sages 113 Quhairfoir thay war all seuin richt sorrofow. 1579 J. Northbrooke Dicing (1843) 37 Your greate commendation of this sermon maketh me sorrowfull that I had not beene at it. 1676 Hale Contempl. ii. 107 Whatsoever I love, makes me..Sorrowful in the loss or deprivation of it. 1796 H. Hunter tr. St.-Pierre's Stud. Nat. (1799) II. 365 If I am in a sorrowful mood. 1810 Scott Lady of L. ii. xxix, While, sorrowful, but undismay'd, The Douglas thus his counsel said. 1882 ‘Ouida’ Maremma I. 13 They were all sorrowful. |
b. absol. (Chiefly
pl.)
| c 897 K. ælfred Gregory's Past. C. 183 Ðætte ða sorᵹfullan onᵹieten ðæt him becumað ða welan. ? a 1400 Morte Arth. 953 He saluȝede that sorowfulle with sittande wordez. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 213 b, How they haue comforted the heuy & sorrowfull. 1556 Aurelio & Isab. (1608) M v, Ha poore sorrowfull. 1869 H. F. Tozer Highl. Turkey II. 324 [Death] coming with a friendly aspect to relieve the sorrowful. |
c. sorrowful tree, the night-jasmine of India.
| 1597 Gerarde Herbal iii. cxxxviii. 1342 Arbor tristis, the sad or sorrowfull tree waxeth as bigge as an Oliue tree. Ibid. 1343 It is called..in English the Sad or Sorrowfull tree, or the Indian Mourner. 1760 J. Lee Introd. Bot. App. 327 Sorrowful-tree, Nyctanthes. |
2. Indicative or expressive of sorrow or grief.
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 284 Ȝif eni is þet naueð nout þe heorte þus afeited, mid seoruhfule sikes. c 1275 Lay. 3410 He mornede swiþe and þeos word seide mid sorfol speche. c 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 503 Al er we born gretand, And makand a sorowful sembland. a 1400 Minor Poems fr. Vernon MS. liv. 182 Heo caste me mony a serwful loke. 1450 W. Lomner in Paston Lett. I. 124, I.. am right sory of that I shalle sey, and have soo wesshe this litel bille with sorwfulle terys, that [etc.]. 1565 Cooper Thesaurus s.v. Foeditas, Sorowfull blacke apparell. 1576 Gascoigne Philomene Ded., I had begonne an Elegye or sorrowefull song, called the Complainte of Phylomene. 1588 Shakes. Tit. A. iii. i. 147 His Napkin..Can do no seruice on her sorrowfull cheekes. 1606 ― Ant. & Cl. i. iii. 64 Where be the Sacred Violles thou should'st fill With sorrowfull water? 1819 Scott Ivanhoe xxxii, Her lovely brow, though sorrowful, bore on it a cast of reviving hope. 1877 Mrs. Forrester Mignon I. 225 The poor mother smiles the..sorrowfulest smile that ever hovered on a woman's lips. |
3. Characterized by, involving or inducing, sorrow or grief; distressing, lamentable, doleful.
| α, β Beowulf 1278 His modor þa ᵹyt..ᵹegan wolde sorhfulne sið. a 1000 Phœnix 417 Þæt hi feor þonan..drohtað sohton, sorᵹfulran ᵹesetu. a 1122 O.E. Chron. (Laud MS.) an. 1112, Hit wæs swiðe hefiᵹ tyme & sorhfull þurh ormætne mancwealm. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 179 Serehful is ure burde for eues gulte. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 823 Þis king adde iwend aboute in such soruol cas. 1340 Ayenb. 34 Efter alle þise zorȝuolle poyns of sleuþe him yefþ þe dyeuel. 1370–80 Visions of St. Paul 173 in O.E. Misc. 228 Þen sauȝ poul a serwȝful siht. 1390 Gower Conf. I. 329 Me is levere forto deie Than live after this sorghful day. |
| γ, δ a 1300 Cursor M. 2785 Þat soruful sin on þam þai thoght..to haue don. Ibid. 7861 Saul es slan, þat soroful king. c 1400 tr. Secreta Secret., Gov. Lordsh. 105, I dye for hunger and sorwfull threst. 1513 Douglas æneid v. xii. 124 In Tartarus, the sorofull hellis pit. 1560 J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 123 Fearyng lest this dissention in Religion should come to some sorowfull ende. 1588 Shakes. Tit. A. v. iii. 142 Goe into old Titus sorrowfull house. 1611 Bible Job vi. 7 The things that my soule refused to touch, are as my sorrowfull meat. 1753 Challoner Cath. Chr. Instr. 240 The five next are called the dolorous or sorrowful Mysteries. 1788 Cowper Morning Dream 32 He..stood looking out for his prey From Africa's sorrowful shore. 1818 Shelley Invoc. Misery vi, Sounds and odours, sorrowful Because they once were sweet. 1871 Alabaster Buddhism 245 In order that he might teach men how to escape from sorrowful existence. |
4. quasi-adv. = next.
| c 1374 Chaucer Anel. & Arc. 207 Vppon A day full soroufull wepynge. 1871 R. Ellis tr. Catullus lxiv. 202 When from an anguish'd heart these words stream'd sorrowful upwards. |