SAD (sadder, saddest)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected forms: sadder    , saddest   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does sad mean? 

• SAD (adjective)
  The adjective SAD has 3 senses:

1. experiencing or showing sorrow or unhappiness

2. of things that make you feel sad

3. bad; unfortunate

  Familiarity information: SAD used as an adjective is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SAD (adjective)

Comparative: sadder   
Superlative: saddest   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Experiencing or showing sorrow or unhappiness

Context example:

Better by far that you should forget and smile / Than that you should remember and be sad

Similar:

bittersweet (tinged with sadness)

doleful; mournful (filled with or evoking sadness)

heavyhearted (depressed)

melancholic; melancholy (characterized by or causing or expressing sadness)

pensive; wistful (showing pensive sadness)

tragic; tragical (very sad; especially involving grief or death or destruction)

tragicomic; tragicomical (manifesting both tragic and comic aspects)

Antonym:

glad (showing or causing joy and pleasure; especially made happy)

Derivation:

sadness (emotions experienced when not in a state of well-being)

sadness (the state of being sad)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Of things that make you feel sad

Context example:

When I am dead, my dearest, / Sing no sad songs for me

Similar:

sorrowful (experiencing or marked by or expressing sorrow especially that associated with irreparable loss)

Derivation:

sadness (the quality of excessive mournfulness and uncheerfulness)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Bad; unfortunate

Synonyms:

deplorable; distressing; lamentable; pitiful; sad; sorry

Context example:

a sorry state of affairs

Similar:

bad (having undesirable or negative qualities)

Derivation:

sadness (the quality of excessive mournfulness and uncheerfulness)

 Context examples 

I came up here alone, for I am very sad. There was no letter for me.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

And women there are who become sad when the word goes over the fire of how the Evil Spirit came to select that valley for an abiding-place.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

She would often be lost in deep thought, with the saddest look upon her face.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“Dear me, this is a very sad development, Watson, is it not?” said he.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

"It is too bad," Dutchy said, with a sad shake of his head.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

But he laughs rarely; he is too often sad.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

She only shook her head; through her tears I saw the same sad quiet smile.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

I wanted to tease you a little to make you less sad: I thought anger would be better than grief.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

It wasn't dreadful, Jo, only so sad!

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Well, Lizzy, said Mrs. Bennet one day, what is your opinion now of this sad business of Jane's?

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)