woeful
/ˈwəʊfəl/adjective
woeful is spelled W-O-E-F-U-L: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 42,145th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, woeful means “Full of woe; sorrowful; distressed with grief or calamity” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in woeful?
| Letters | 6: W-O-E-F-U-L |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 42,145th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is woeful?
Woeful appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 42,145th 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 woeful?
- /ˈwəʊfəl/
Woeful has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-woeful.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of woeful
- woefuller comparative
- woefullest superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does woeful mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Full of woe; sorrowful; distressed with grief or calamity.
- 2
Bringing calamity, distress, or affliction.
a woeful event
- 3
Lamentable, deplorable.
- 4
Wretched; paltry; poor.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does woeful come from?
From Middle English woful, waful, equivalent to woe + -ful. Compare Old English wālīċ (“woeful”), Old English tēonful (“woeful”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).