sad

1 of 2

adjective

sadder; saddest
1
a
: affected with or expressive of grief or unhappiness : downcast
b(1)
: causing or associated with grief or unhappiness : depressing
sad news
(2)
: regrettable, deplorable
a sad relaxation of moralsC. W. Cunnington
c
: of little worth
2
: of a dull somber color
sadness noun

SAD

2 of 2

abbreviation

seasonal affective disorder

Examples of sad in a Sentence

Adjective He's feeling sad because his pet died. People were sad that he was leaving. The experience left her sadder but wiser. Have you heard the sad news about his wife's illness? It'll be a sad day when you leave us. a movie with a sad ending He lived a sad life. The sad fact of the matter is that they are right. The new version is a sad imitation of the original movie. We needed more money but, sad to say, there wasn't any.
Recent Examples on the Web
Adjective
There's a folder on his computer just for photos of sad sloths. Sean Evans, Robb Report, 5 Mar. 2024 The only option on the all-but-empty campus was a sad Starbucks. Hiroko Tabuchi Damon Casarez, New York Times, 1 Mar. 2024 And the sad part is the people who need it the most are often boxed out of those funding methods. Zoya Hasan, Forbes, 1 Mar. 2024 Kacey Musgraves fans are happy and (anything but) sad now that the country singer is hitting the road. Daniela Avila, Peoplemag, 29 Feb. 2024 The sad news of Damo Suzuki’s death that morning prompted Dandelion’s owners to put Can’s albums on the shelves behind the counter, right next to Soul Jazz’s Studio One reggae compilations and Canadian artists like Magneticring and Fortunato Durutti Marinetti. Jesse Locke, SPIN, 29 Feb. 2024 If this weren’t sad enough, the clanging piano chords—loping around in circular motion—taunt her dead-end state. Joshua Minsoo Kim, Rolling Stone, 28 Feb. 2024 Archer was affiliated with the sports media brand Nitro Circus, which shared the sad news with fans in a statement posted to Instagram. David K. Li, NBC News, 22 Feb. 2024 Benioff’s vision for Twitter as a data gold mine to fuel better customer service felt like a sad reality for a product that had once helped orchestrate uprisings in the Middle East and reshaped the global media industry. Kurt Wagner, Fortune, 21 Feb. 2024

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

Word History

Etymology

Adjective

Middle English, from Old English sæd sated; akin to Old High German sat sated, Latin satis enough

First Known Use

Adjective

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Time Traveler
The first known use of sad was in the 13th century

Dictionary Entries Near sad

Cite this Entry

“Sad.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sad. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

sad

adjective
sadder; saddest
1
: filled with or expressing grief or unhappiness
sad songs
2
: causing grief or unhappiness : depressing
sad news
sadly adverb

Medical Definition

SAD

abbreviation
seasonal affective disorder

More from Merriam-Webster on sad

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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