Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Filled with or accompanied by tears.
  • adjective So piteous as to excite tears.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Full of tears; shedding tears; weeping; mourning.
  • Giving occasion for tears; mournful; melancholy.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Abounding with tears; weeping; shedding tears.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective accompanied by tears.
  • adjective sorrowful.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective filled with or marked by tears
  • adjective showing sorrow

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

tear +‎ -ful

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Examples

  • When she heard his words, she wept and sobbed, and the merchant said to her, O my lady, I observe that, every time I mention Baghdad, thine eyes are tearful: is there any one there whom thou lovest?

    The Book of The Thousand Nights And A Night 2006

  • "Do you call a tearful interview with the mother of an accused killer unbiased?"

    Sweet Anger Brown, Sandra, 1948- 1985

  • She could only press her lips in tearful silence to the one and the other of her mother's cheeks alternately.

    The Wide, Wide World 1892

  • What more can be said as we gather in tearful reverence around his bier?

    An Address in Commemoration of Abraham Lincoln 1865

  • A source tells E! that Britney was "tearful" - in a good way!

    E! Online (US) - Top Stories 2008

  • A source tells E! that Britney was "tearful" - in a good way!

    E! Online (US) - Top Stories 2008

  • Watching the Supreme Leader calling the tearful Basiji to arms, it struck me that the worst thing Bush/Cheney and the neocons did was to trivialize what is evil about our enemies as they devalued what is good about us.

    Ian Masters: The Axis of Dictators 2009

  • "My grandmother was a prayin 'woman," recalled a tearful Robert Lavala, pastor of a bikers 'church in Las Vegas.

    The Gospel Of Guyhood 2008

  • He was very tearful, which is not like him - he is usually very optimistic.

    unknown title 2009

  • He recalled a tearful discussion with his mother in a car after dropping off his brother, who was being sent to Iraq, at a military base.

    Celebrity Gossip - Rumorficial 2008

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