rueful
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rueful
- /ˈɹuːfl̩/
Where it comes from
From Middle English ruful, rewful. By surface analysis, rue + -ful.
adjective more rueful · most rueful · ruefull
-
Causing, feeling, or expressing regret or sorrow, especially in a wry or humorous way.
"I like the young, andro look, but I've dated across the board—butches, femmes, trannies—and that really bothers Clara. All her girlfriends in the past have been pretty much straight." Kim offers a rueful little laugh.
Similar: deplorable, pitiful, sorry, atrabiliary, atrabilious, depressing, distressing, grievous, heartbreaking, heartrending, miserable, lamentable
-
Inspiring pity or compassion.
Similar: pathetic, pitiable, pitiful, pitisome, compassionate, pathetisad, piteous, sad, poor, rueful, ruthful, snivelly
-
Bad; woeful; deplorable.
The first who made the experiment was a merry-andrew, who was put into my hands by a neighbouring justice of peace, in order to reclaim him from that profligate kind of life. Poor Pickle-herring had not taken above one turn in it, when he came out of the cave, like a hermit from his cell, with a pen
Similar: unfavorable, negative, abysmal, atrocious, awful, bad, chronic, coarse, corny, crap, crapalicious, crappy
Translations
Every language
adj causing, feeling, or expressing regret or sorrow
| Português | recalcado |
|---|---|
| Deutsch | reuig, reumütig |
| Русский | гру́стный grústnyj, печа́льный pečálʹnyj, уны́лый unýlyj |
adj inspiring pity or compassion
| Español | sentir lastima o compasion |
|---|---|
| Deutsch | kläglich |
| Русский | жа́лкий žálkij, несча́стный nesčástnyj |
Talk about this word "rueful." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/rueful. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. rueful. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/rueful "rueful." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/rueful.Cite this
@misc{rueful_2026,
title = {rueful},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/rueful},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
