How to Use tearful in a Sentence

tearful

adjective
  • He looked up at me with his tearful eyes and asked for help.
  • Kotb told the tearful co-hosts.
    — Rachel Burchfield, InStyle, 14 Jan. 2026
  • Kotb told the two tearful co-hosts.
    — Rachel McRady, PEOPLE, 12 Jan. 2026
  • Watch Swift's tearful speech in the video above.
    — Joey Nolfi, Entertainment Weekly, 12 June 2026
  • And then came the video reel of homie tributes, some of them tearful.
    — Steve Lopezcolumnist, Los Angeles Times, 2 Nov. 2022
  • As the Mass ended, some were tearful.
    — Sophie Carson, jsonline.com, 26 Nov. 2025
  • Some in the small group of hushed onlookers were tearful.
    — ABC News, 30 Apr. 2026
  • Watch the video above to see Hayley’s tearful sign-off call!
    — Ronnie Li, USA Today, 2 Apr. 2026
  • Cummings then put his arm around the linebacker, and the two shared a tearful hug.
    — David J. Kim, The Courier-Journal, 8 Dec. 2019
  • This one is a tough one since there were a lot of tearful goodbyes at the end of the season.
    — Tamara Fuentes, Seventeen, 4 July 2019
  • For him, their tearful reunion was closure enough.
    — Ashley Vega, PEOPLE, 17 Oct. 2025
  • The tearful moment was captured on video.
    — Elizabeth Robinson, NBC news, 8 Apr. 2026
  • The two brothers stay loyal to their queens and fight a tearful duel to the death.
    — Jennifer Maas, Variety, 24 June 2024
  • That’s the high point of the party, which ends in the angry, tearful way most of their ‘dos do.
    — Peter Larsen, Orange County Register, 20 Sep. 2024
  • Willis said in a tearful statement made in court on Wednesday.
    — Quinlan Bentley, The Enquirer, 12 July 2023
  • In the episode, Jennifer took a tearful, tense phone call with Zac.
    — Zoey Lyttle, People.com, 11 June 2025
  • All seems to be off to a good start when the pair reunite in a tearful, airport greeting.
    — Kelly Wynne, Peoplemag, 4 Dec. 2023
  • Kapito, tearful and overwhelmed, thanks the chief and promises to do her best.
    — Abigail Haworth, Marie Claire, 19 Mar. 2018
  • Expect vivid dreams, déjà vu moments, and maybe even a tearful rage-room release.
    — Dossé-Via Trenou, Refinery29, 29 Aug. 2025
  • Looks of tearful pride beamed across their faces when Kaluuya’s name was announced.
    — Aida Ylanan, Los Angeles Times, 25 Apr. 2021
  • This show of emotion, in turn, made Gaga at first verklempt and then fully tearful.
    — Michelle Ruiz, Vogue, 11 Sep. 2018
  • And then she's been distant and tearful in other moments.
    — Essence Editors, Essence, 18 May 2026
  • Her son was led into the room and the two reunited in a tearful embrace.
    — Jacob Soboroff, NBC News, 25 July 2022
  • Some people in the crowd gave the actor a standing ovation for his tearful speech.
    — Ellen Gamerman, WSJ, 31 Mar. 2022
  • The video shows a tearful Cuoco watching the show on her laptop.
    — Kelly Wynne, Peoplemag, 19 Oct. 2022
  • The three tearful siblings who ran out of the house said their older brother was still inside.
    — Sydney Page, Washington Post, 3 Nov. 2022
  • The footage shows a tearful baby boy sitting in his car seat while holding an iPhone.
    — Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 12 Feb. 2025
  • The teaser ends with a closeup of a tearful, stressed out Betty.
    — Carolyn Twersky, Seventeen, 24 Mar. 2021
  • Her tearful father was there to receive the body at Karachi airport.
    — NBC News, 23 May 2018
  • About two weeks in, Single called her mother Robin and was tearful.
    — Justin Fenton, baltimoresun.com, 13 Aug. 2021

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'tearful.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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