tearful

tearful — adjective

1. having tears in your eyes, or showing that you are close to crying, because of s

1.adjectiveB1
Definition

having tears in your eyes, or showing that you are close to crying, because of sadness, strong emotion, or pain.

Example

Soraya became tearful when she talked about her grandmother's illness.

be/become + tearful (predicative)

Nadia wiped her eyes after giving a tearful goodbye to her classmates.

tearful + noun for emotional events

Common collocations
  • tearful goodbye
  • tearful farewell
  • tearful voice
  • tearful eyes
  • tearful reunion
  • become tearful
  • look tearful
  • sound tearful
Synonyms
  • teary

    Slightly less intense than 'tearful'; suggests having tears without necessarily crying openly.

  • weepy

    More informal, often describes someone who cries easily.

  • in tears

    A fixed phrase that specifically means actively crying, not just close to crying.

  • emotional

    Broader meaning — strong feelings that may or may not produce tears.

Antonyms
  • dry-eyed

    Not crying and showing no emotion in the eyes.

Grammar Patterns

be/become/look/sound + tearful

tearful + noun

Usage Note

Frequently used both attributively (before a noun, e.g. a tearful farewell) and predicatively (after a linking verb, e.g. she became tearful). The attributive position often describes an emotional event (a tearful scene) rather than a person directly.

Common Mistakes

His shirt was tearful after he caught it on the fence.
His shirt was torn after he caught it on the fence.
'tearful' describes a person who is crying; 'torn' means ripped or damaged.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

All four describe a state connected to crying, but they differ in intensity and grammar. Tearful is the most neutral and common; it works both before a noun (a tearful farewell) and after a verb (she became tearful). Teary is slightly milder — it suggests eyes that are moist or shining with unshed tears rather than active crying (a teary smile). Weepy is more informal and often implies a tendency to cry easily (a weepy movie). In tears is a fixed phrase used after linking verbs only (she was in tears; he left in tears), and it specifically means actively crying — not just on the verge of it. Use 'tearful' for formal writing or neutral description; use 'weepy' in casual speech; use 'in tears' when you want to emphasize that the crying is actually happening.

tearful ↗tearyweepyin tears

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

  • almost tearful
  • suddenly tearful
  • visibly tearful

Phrases

  • become tearful
  • get tearful
  • look tearful
  • sound tearful
  • find someone tearful
  • feel tearful

Etymology

Old EnglishEnglish

Formed in English by combining 'tear' (a drop of liquid from the eye, from Old English tēar) with the suffix '-ful' (meaning 'full of'). The word has been used since at least the 1500s to describe someone who is crying or filled with tears.