woebegone
/'woubi,gɔn/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
- Adjective:
- Affected by or full of grief or woe; looking extremely sad or sorrowful: Describes a person's appearance or expression as showing deep unhappiness.
- In a very poor or miserable condition as a result of neglect, age, or hard use: Describes an object or place that appears dilapidated, worn out, and forlorn.
Examples of Usage
Describing a person's appearance:
- After hearing the terrible news, her face was utterly woebegone.
- The lost child had a woebegone expression that made everyone want to help.
Describing an object or place:
- They lived in a woebegone cottage at the edge of the moor.
- The abandoned garden looked woebegone and forgotten.
Advanced Usage
Literary and descriptive tone: "Woebegone" is often used in literary, descriptive, or somewhat formal contexts to evoke a strong sense of pity or melancholy. It is less common in everyday casual speech.
- The knight returned from his quest with a woebegone countenance.
Combining meanings: The word can sometimes imply that the physical dilapidation of a thing mirrors a feeling of sadness.
- The woebegone old house seemed to sigh under the weight of its memories.
Variants and Related Words
- Woe (n): Great sorrow or distress.
- She was full of woe after the accident.
- Woeful (adj): Characterized by, expressing, or causing sorrow; also can mean very bad or deplorable.
- He gave a woeful sigh. / The team's performance was woeful.
Synonyms
- Forlorn: Pitifully sad and abandoned or lonely.
- Desolate: Feeling or showing great unhappiness or loneliness; also, (of a place) deserted and bleak.
- Decrepit: Worn out or ruined because of age or neglect.
- Mournful: Feeling, expressing, or inducing sadness or sorrow.
- Doleful: Expressing sorrow; mournful.
Antonyms
- Joyful: Feeling, expressing, or causing great pleasure and happiness.
- Cheerful: Noticeably happy and optimistic.
- Radiant: Sending out light; shining or glowing brightly; (of a person or their expression) obviously very happy.
- Pristine: In its original condition; unspoiled; clean and fresh as if new.
Related Idioms and Phrases
- To look woebegone: A common phrase using the word to describe someone's sad appearance.
- Don't look so woebegone; things will get better.
- A woebegone figure: Describes a person who appears pitifully sad.
- He cut a woebegone figure standing alone in the rain.
Adjective
- affected by or full of grief or woe
- his sorrow...made him look...haggard and...woebegone- George du Maurier
- worn and broken down by hard use
- a creaky shack
- a decrepit bus...its seats held together with friction tape
- a flea-bitten sofa
- a run-down neighborhood
- a woebegone old shack