“Trying to avoid sadness is trying to avoid life.”

Maxime Lagace, a Canadian ice hockey goaltender

This is most certainly our saddest post ever, and we wish you would feel this way as rarely as possible. For the times you do get depressed, read on and expand your vocabulary.

Synonyms for “sad”

1. Sorrowful (literary) – feeling/showing grief; feeling very sad: He has been sorrowful ever since his mother passed away.
2. Dejected – sad, depressed: Why are you looking so dejected? – I’ve failed a job interview.
3. Regretful – feeling/showing regret: George sounded a little regretful that he hadn’t been there.
4. Downcast (formal) – sad, upset: Emily is downcast because we have cancelled our trip to Disneyland.
5. Miserable – extremely unhappy or uncomfortable: He looked cold and miserable in the rain.
6. Downhearted – discouraged, in low spirits: Don’t get downhearted. There will be other opportunities.
7. Down – unhappy, depressed; downcast: I have been so down lately. I don’t even know why.
8. Despondent /dɪˈspɒnd(ə)nt/ – in low spirits from loss of hope or courage: With all the rejection, she was growing more and more despondent.
9. Melancholic /ˌmelənˈkɒlɪk/ – affected by melancholy /ˈmelənˌkɒli/: I have always been a little melancholic. I guess that’s part of my personality.
10. Heartbroken – devastated: Our breakup left me heartbroken.
11. Woeful /ˈwəʊf(ə)l/ (literary) – very sad: The dog gave a long woeful howl.
12. Low-spirited – downhearted: There is no reason to be so low-spirited. Tomorrow is another day.

To practice the vocabulary, click the link here and solve the crossword.

Sad idioms

1. (Down) in the dumps: I’m in the dumps because I have had an argument with a friend.
2. Down in the mouth: I am not down in the mouth about our argument.
3. Out of sorts: The conflict at work has put me out of sorts.
4. Fed up: I’m fed up with all the work I have to do on my own.
5. Feel/be blue: I have been feeling blue ever since we moved into the new apartment. I miss my old room so bad!
6. Have the blues: I had blues after she told me she was leaving.
7. Have a heavy heart: When was the last time you had a heavy heart? – Just recently. I left the town I loved with a heavy heart.
8. My heart sinks: My heart sank when I saw the pained (= upset) expression on her face.
9. Have a lump in your throat: I had a huge lump in my throat as I watched my brother get on the plane.
10. Be a sad sight: After my boyfriend left me, I was a sad sight for months.
11. Beside yourself with sorrow: When her mother died, she was beside herself with sorrow.
12. Sadder but wiser: Sadder but wiser, she’s never going near poison ivy again. (= She had a bad experience with poison ivy, but she learned from it and now she has become a wiser person; that is why she is not going to make the same mistake again.)
13. To pierce one’s heart: The thought of children suffering so much pierces my heart.
14. Sick at heart: We were sick at heart when we learned of her predicament (= difficult situation). 
15. Take something hard: Alan took his mother’s death particularly hard.
16. Knock someone sideways: The news about his mother’s accident really knocked him sideways.
17. Cut up about something: I was pretty cut up about the way the critics treated my last play. 

Click the link here and match the parts of the sentences.

Did you like the post? Make sure you subscribe to our blog for more articles like this. 😉

• Blog