sad
/ˈsæd/adjective, interjection, noun
sad is spelled S-A-D: 3 letters and one syllable. It appears 69 times per million words in written English, the 1,528th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, sad means “Feeling sorrow; sorrowful, mournful” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in sad?
| Letters | 3: S-A-D |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 |
| In writing | 69 times per million words; the 1,528th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is sad?
Sad appears 69 times per million words in written English, the 1,528th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce sad?
- /ˈsæd/
- /saːd/
Sad has one syllable.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-sad.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Pvanp7-sad.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with sad
Also written: saad.
Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with sad?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as sad.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: ads, das.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of sad
- sadder comparative
- more sad comparative
- saddest superlative
- most sad superlative
- sads present, singular, he/she/it, plural
- sadding participle, present
- sadded participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does sad mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Feeling sorrow; sorrowful, mournful.
She gets sad when he's away.
- 2
Appearing sorrowful.
The puppy had a sad little face.
- 3
Causing sorrow; lamentable.
It's a sad fact that most rapes go unreported.
- 4
Poor in quality, bad; shameful, deplorable; later, regrettable, poor.
That's the saddest-looking pickup truck I've ever seen.
- 5
Of colours: dark, deep; later, sombre, dull.
- 6
obsoleteSated, having had one's fill; satisfied, weary.
- 7
obsoleteSteadfast, valiant.
- 8
obsoleteDignified, serious, grave.
interjection
- 1
Expressing contempt, ridicule or disgust; bah!
noun
- 1
Initialism of seasonal affective disorder.
- 2
Initialism of standard American diet.
- 3
Initialism of social anxiety disorder.
- 4
Initialism of single-wavelength anomalous dispersion.
verb
- 1
archaicTo make melancholy; to sadden or grieve (someone).
16??, John Webster, Appius and Virginia My father's wondrous pensive, and withal / With a suppress'd rage left his house displeas'd, / And so in post is hurried to the camp: / It sads me much; to expel which melancholy, / I have sent for co
noun
- 1
Alternative form of saad (“Arabic letter”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Sad in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | trist , traurig |
| French | triste |
| Portuguese | triste |
| Spanish | triste, amarrido, marrido (desus.), hacino (desus.) |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does sad come from?
From Middle English sad, from Old English sæd (“satisfied, full, sated, unable to handle more, weary”), from Proto-West Germanic *sad, from Proto-Germanic *sadaz (“sated, satisfied”), from Proto-Indo-European *seh₂- (“to satiate, satisfy”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).