- 1[usually before noun] very bad or serious; that you disapprove of synonym deplorable She displayed a woeful ignorance of the rules.
Definitions on the go
Look up any word in the dictionary offline, anytime, anywhere with the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary app.
- 2(literary or formal) very sad a woeful face woeful tales of failed romances
NAmE//ˈwoʊfəli//
adverb His performance was woefully inadequate. “I'll never see him again,” she sighed woefully.See woeful in the Oxford Advanced Learner's DictionaryCheck pronunciation: woeful