Sad Words: Find the Exact Word With the Emotion Wheel
Use the free Emotion Wheel below to drill down from a core emotion to the exact word, or browse all 131 curated words.
If you’re looking for a sad words list to help you convey melancholy in your writing, read on. This comprehensive
Emotion Wheel
Start with a core emotion and drill down to the precise word you need.
Curated word bank
Sparklines show each word's usage in published books since 1800 (Google Books Ngram data). The dot marks the peak decade.
- Sad words list
- Aggrieved
- Agonizing
- Anguished
- Bad
- Bereaved
- Bitter
- Bleak
- Blue
- Broken
- Brokenhearted
- Cast down
- Comfortless
- Crestfallen
- Dark
- Dejected
- Demoralized
- Deplorable
- Depressed
- Desolate
- Despairing
- Despondent
- Devastated
- Diabolical
- Disappointed
- Discomposed
- Disconsolate
- Discouraged
- Disheartened
- Dismal
- Dispirited
- Distraught
- Distressed
- Disturbing
- Doleful
- Dolorous
- Down
- Downcast
- Downhearted
- Down in the dumps
- Down in the mouth
- Dreadful
- Dreary
- Droopy
- Fall apart
- Fell to pieces
- Forlorn
- Funereal
- Gloomy
- Glum
- Gray
- Grim
- Grief-stricken
- Grieving
- Gutted
- Hangdog
- Heartbroken
- Heartrending
- Heartsick
- Heartsore
- Heart-wrenching
- Heavy-hearted
- Hopeless
- Hurting
- Inconsolable
- In agony
- In the doldrums
- In tears
- Joyless
- Knocked sideways
- Lachrymose
- Lamentable
- Languished
- Leaden
- Listless
- Low
- Low-spirited
- Lump in my throat
- Megrim
- Melancholic
- Miserable
- Moody
- Morbid
- Oppressed
- Out of sorts
- Pensive
- Pessimistic
- Piteous
- Pitiable
- Plaintive
- Poignant
- Rueful
- Saddened
- Sick at heart
- Sickening
- Somber
- Sorrowful
- Spiritless
- Sullen
- Sunk
- Took it hard
- Tearful
- Tear-jerker
- Triste
- Troubled
- Uneasy
- Unhappy
- Unfortunate
- Upset
- Wailing
- Wistful
- Weepy
- Weltschmerz
- Woebegone
- Woeful
- Wretched
- About this guide
- Related reading
- Cheerless
- Elegiac
- Fall to pieces
- In the dumps
- Lugubrious
- Mournful
- Oppressive
- Reduced to tears
- Take something hard
- Tragic
- Desperate
- In the doldrum
- Lump in one's throat
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