RUEFUL Synonyms: 165 Similar and Opposite Words

rueful

adjective

ˈrü-fəl

Definition of rueful

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

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

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

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of rueful The conversation is raucous, self-aware and unexpectedly rueful. — Maer Roshan, HollywoodReporter, 4 Aug. 2026 Kincaid documented the wry, rueful conditions of colonialism and made a request of one of Britain’s most famous fictional characters. — Literary Hub, 27 July 2026 To root for #TeamBlack is to know that nothing good can come from impulse, and rueful laughter rippled across the lawn as Jace, eager to fight in his mother’s stead, locks Rhaenyra in her chambers to prevent her from risking her life in battle. — Fran Hoepfner, Vulture, 22 June 2026 Marcus Semien — a 35-year-old second baseman less than a month into his first season in Queens — said, cracking a rueful smile. — Hannah Keyser, CNN Money, 22 Apr. 2026 See All Example Sentences for rueful

Recent Examples of Synonyms for rueful

Adjective

The One About Matthew Perry, a three-part docuseries, out October 27 on Netflix, is more of a celebration of celebrate Perry’s life instead of a mournful tribute or true crime drama about his death and the headline-making trial that followed.

— Bethy Squires, Vulture, 25 Oct. 2026
East Suffolk, a windblown span of marshy coastland, has a reputation for stark, mournful beauty, and for drawing creative people with a taste for isolation and escape.

— Nathan Heller, New Yorker, 19 Oct. 2026

Definition of mournful

Adjective

And every day, across from them, outside the clinic, about to enter or just leaving, there were women hugging each other and weeping.

— David Mamet, National Review, 11 Aug. 2022
The show manages to stay on the brink — always laughing, never quite weeping — for its entire length.

— Helen Shaw, Vulture, 8 Dec. 2021

Definition of weeping

Adjective

The woman never brought Melissa back, leaving a heartbroken Apantenco wondering what had become of her baby.

— Harriet Ramos, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 24 Oct. 2026
Mike Sweeney’s tutor Royals Hall of Famer Mike Sweeney was heartbroken to learn of Benzinger’s passing.

— Pete Grathoff, Kansas City Star, 22 Oct. 2026

Definition of heartbroken

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rued

rueful

ruefully

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“Rueful.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rueful. Accessed 29 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of rueful

adjective

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