wailfully

adverb

as in sadly
with feelings of bitterness or grief the lost child wailfully kept asking for his mother

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for wailfully
  1. sadly
  2. bitterly
  3. sorrowfully
  4. painfully
  5. mournfully
  6. hard
Adverb
  • The bears were getting thinned out in Mississippi, and the wilderness was sadly reduced.
    — Paul Schullery, Outdoor Life, 13 Aug. 2026
  • Just as Wolvie is hot on their trail, he’s impaled by a harpoon and the demo sadly comes to an end.
    — Jordan Moreau, Variety, 13 Aug. 2026
Definition of sadly
Adverb
  • District 4 The District 4 race between Sharry Kimmel, of Parkland, and Nicole Morst, of Coral Springs, has turned into one of the most bitterly contested, with both candidates questioning the honesty of their opponent.
    — Scott Travis, Sun Sentinel, 14 Aug. 2026
  • Many clergy bitterly opposed the handover of the villages and criticized Pashinyan, who came to power in the South Caucasus nation amid a wave of hopeful, pro-democracy protests that swept Armenia in 2018.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 9 Aug. 2026
Definition of bitterly
Adverb
  • Tarun would tease her, and my mother would look sorrowfully toward Kavitha, as if the two of them now shared some womanly burden.
    — Madhuri Vijay, New Yorker, 16 Nov. 2025
Definition of sorrowfully
Adverb
  • Hathaway effortlessly carries the film’s pathos, building a home in a very human (and painfully relatable) character.
    — Chris Bellamy, Entertainment Weekly, 14 Aug. 2026
  • But loving Lochte and building a life with him proved, painfully, to be two different things.
    — Adam Carlson, PEOPLE, 12 Aug. 2026
Definition of painfully
Adverb
  • Mayfield watched mournfully in his kitchen while the rest of the family sat in the living room with the big screen next to a Christmas tree.
    — John Romano, The Orlando Sentinel, 19 July 2026
  • So is the moment early in the film when Mary mournfully looks on as her long-ago home faces demolition to make room for a big, featureless residential complex.
    — Peter Tonguette, The Washington Examiner, 6 June 2026
Definition of mournfully
Adverb
  • Miroshnichenko competes hard and doesn’t shy from physical play.
    — Corey Pronman, New York Times, 18 Aug. 2026
  • Now, rising protectionism and inflation have made growth harder for global e-commerce platforms.
    — Nicholas Gordon, Fortune, 17 Aug. 2026
Definition of hard
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.

Browse Nearby Words

wail (for)
wailfully
wailing
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Wailfully.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/wailfully. Accessed 20 Aug. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of divulge

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Do you 'say your piece' or 'say your peace'?

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Words from the 'Odyssey'

The Longest Long Words List

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

Is “GIF” Pronounced “Jiff” or “Giff”?

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

Words from the 'Odyssey'

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
image of a green cube out of place in a lineup of red spheres
Odd Word Out: Synonyms Vol. 2 Quiz Figure out which word isn't like the others.
See All