# woeful

> English word · Adjective · IPA /ˈwəʊfəl/ · frequency rank #42,492

## Definitions
1. Full of woe; sorrowful; distressed with grief or calamity.
2. Bringing calamity, distress, or affliction.
3. Lamentable, deplorable.
4. Wretched; paltry; poor.

## Etymology
From Middle English woful, waful, equivalent to woe + -ful. Compare Old English wālīċ (“woeful”), Old English tēonful (“woeful”).

## Easily confused with
- **woefully** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/woeful-vs-woefully)
- **wilful** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wilful-vs-woeful)

## Common misspellings (8)
`oweful`, `weoful`, `woefful`, `woeflu`, `woefull`, `woeufl`, `wofeul`, `wwoeful`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/woeful