tearful

English

Etymology

From tear +‎ -ful.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈtɪə(ɹ)fʊl/, /ˈtɪə(ɹ)fəl/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈtɪɹfʊl/, /ˈtɪɹfəl/
• Rhymes: -ɪə(ɹ)fəl, -ɪə(ɹ)fʊl

Adjective

tearful (comparative more tearful, superlative most tearful)

1. Accompanied by tears; crying, or about to cry.

   Aaron was a little tearful until Laura came to reassure him.

   • 1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “The Remembrance of the Dead”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 322:

     The week that was yet to elapse, she spent in wandering through her uncle's favourite walks in hours of tearful vigil, beside his tomb, and in collecting together every trifle on which he had set a value.

2. Sorrowful.

   Synonym: lachrymose

   • 1989 February 5, Craig G. Harris, “Your Life's All In Your Dreams And Your Dreams Are All In Your Life”, in Gay Community News, volume 16, number 29, page 9:

     Receiving the news of Joseph Beam's death two days after Christmas was a piercing blow that sent me into a tearful and contemplative stupor from which I have not yet emerged.

Derived terms

• tearfully
• tearfulness

Translations

accompanied by tears

• Arabic: دَامِع (dāmiʕ)
• Armenian: արցունքոտ (arcʻunkʻot)
• Aromanian: lãcãrmos, lãcrimos
• Bulgarian: насълзен (bg) (nasǎlzen)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 淚汪汪 / 泪汪汪 (zh) (lèiwāngwāng), 淚眼汪汪 / 泪眼汪汪 (lèiyǎn wāngwāng)

• Czech: uslzený, uplakaný
• Danish: tårefyld
• Dutch: betraand (nl), vochtig (nl)
• Finnish: itkun partaalla, kyyneleinen
• French: au bord des larmes (fr), larmoyant (fr)
• German: tränenreich (de)
• Greek: δακρυσμένος (el) (dakrysménos), έτοιμος να βάλει τα κλάματα (étoimos na válei ta klámata), κλαμένος (el) (klaménos)
• Hindi: अश्रुपूर्ण (aśrupūrṇ)
• Hungarian: könnyes (hu)
• Italian: bagnato (it), lacrimoso, piangente (it), umido (it)
• Japanese: 涙ぐんだ (なみだぐんだ, namida gunda)
• Karakhanid: يَشْلِغْ (yašlïɣ)
• Latvian: raudulīgs
• Maori: matawai, matawaia, toriwai, tōwāwahi
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: forgrått, tårefylt, tårevåt

  Nynorsk: gråtfull, tårefull, tårevåt

• Old Uyghur: yʾšlyγ (yašlïɣ)
• Ottoman Turkish: یاشلو (yaşlı)
• Persian: تر (fa) (tar)
• Polish: zapłakany (pl), rozpłakany, płaczliwy (pl), łzawy (pl)
• Portuguese: lacrimejante
• Romanian: înlăcrimat (ro)
• Russian: глаза́ на мо́кром ме́сте (ru) (glazá na mókrom méste) (figuratively), по́лный слёз (pólnyj sljoz), в слеза́х (ru) (v slezáx), запла́канный (ru) (zaplákannyj)
• Spanish: lloroso (es), lacrimoso, lagrimoso (es)
• Swedish: gråtmild (sv), tårfylld (sv)
• Turkish: gözyaşlı,, yaşlı (tr)

sorrowful

• Bulgarian: тъжен (bg) (tǎžen)
• Finnish: kyyneleinen
• French: éploré (fr), larmoyant (fr)
• Greek: δακρύβρεχτος (el) (dakrývrechtos)
• Hindi: रुआँसा m (ruā̃sā), रुआँसी f (ruā̃sī)
• Hungarian: szomorú (hu)
• Latvian: raudulīgs
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: tåredryppende, gråtkvalt

  Nynorsk: tåredrypande

• Polish: żałosny (pl), stroskany, rzewny (pl)
• Russian: печа́льный (ru) (pečálʹnyj)
• Turkish: yaslı (tr), gözü yaşlı, ağlamaklı (tr), acıklı (tr)

Anagrams

• faulter, refutal