1
as in mournful
expressing or suggesting mourning
the rueful faces of friends and family who had gathered to pay their last respects
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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
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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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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of rueful
That race ended with the elder Cuomo coming in second with 40% of the vote—a number the son invoked in his concession speech with a rueful smile.
—
Nik Popli, Time, 5 Nov. 2025
That was one last flourish of self-laceration, and there is definitely a matching strain of masochism in Hopkins—not so much a relish of suffering as a rueful acknowledgment that earthly woe is our due.
—Anthony Lane, New Yorker, 3 Nov. 2025
Instead Kidman was wry, rueful, unsure of herself.
—Wendell Steavenson, Vogue, 8 Oct. 2025
After that excruciating miss Saturday, Sabalenka dropped her racket on the blue court and smiled a rueful smile.
—Jason Ma, Fortune, 7 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for rueful
Recent Examples of Synonyms for rueful
Adjective
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This internal struggle is portrayed with raw honesty, focusing on the darker, mournful corners of humanity that inspired the record’s lyrics.—
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Other tracks channel the mournful energy of the most political ’70s dub.—
Adjective
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Wait, sorry, who is Ashley French?—
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Their new offering will cover stories on the mental side of sports, such as how to drink coffee like Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell, and tips from a gold medalist on how to say sorry less.—
Adjective
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Here in his pitiful, mini Gaza where reasoning and logic struggle futilely.—
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Instead Tripp comes across as simultaneously pitiful and predatory, a fine line that Paulson was able to walk straight to the year-round Christmas store.—
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.—
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The show manages to stay on the brink — always laughing, never quite weeping — for its entire length.—
Adjective
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Krawiec said those services help her focus on school without feeling ashamed for asking for help.—
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Sarah’s sister, the missing girl’s mother, prays with desperate hope for her own child, yet feels ashamed—a heartbreakingly human reaction in the face of such horror.—
Adjective
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Add the pathetic reality that Illinois is the very definition of unfriendliness for business development and job creation, and the only thing Pritzker and his accomplices can campaign on is the vilification of Trump, facts be damned.—
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There are solutions to Joe Biden’s failing and pathetic attempts to raise money to build a presidential library.—
Adjective
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After Anna disappeared, Alice was heartbroken.—
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A day after the shooting, Chez’s heartbroken parents proclaimed at a press conference outside the 101st Precinct stationhouse in Far Rockaway that their son posed no threat.—
Adjective
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During his years behind bars, the 81 year old became reflective and remorseful, though no less colorful.—
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Is DeAngelo remorseful for his crimes?—
Cite this Entry
“Rueful.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rueful. Accessed 12 Jan. 2026.
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