sad

adjective

1 UNHAPPY unhappy, but especially because something unpleasant has happened to you or someone else: What's the matter with him? He looks so sad. | be sad to do sth: I was sad to see them go in the end.

(+ about): I was glad to be going home, but sad about the friends I was leaving behind. | sad smile/face/expression etc: There was such a sad look in her eyes. —opposite happy (1)

2 STH THAT MAKES YOU SAD a sad event, situation etc makes you feel unhappy: A special meeting was called to announce the sad news of his death. | sad book/song/film etc: What a sad movie! I cried all the way through. | it is sad that: It's sad that James can't be with us. | it is sad to see/hear etc: It was sad to see all that food going to waste. | sad time/day/moment etc: This is a sad day for all of us.

3 NOT SATISFACTORY (only before noun) a sad situation is very bad or unacceptable: sad state of affairs (=bad situation): It's a sad state of affairs when you can't go out at night for fear of being attacked. | the sad fact is (that) spoken: The sad fact is that prejudice and discrimination still exist. | sad to say spoken: Sad to say, we never found them.

4 LONELY a sad person or someone who has a sad life seems lonely and unhappy and you feel sorry for them: She's a sad character - I don't think she has any friends at all. | sad case (=someone you feel sorry for)

5 BORING spoken slang used to say that someone or something is boring and unfashionable: I think Carole's a bit of a sad name. Oh, sorry, is your mum called Carole? | sad bastard: Get a life, you sad bastard.

6 sadder but wiser having learned something from an unpleasant experience: He came out of the relationship sadder but wiser.

— sadness noun (singular, uncountable) —see also: sadly