Make Your Point: DOLOROUS

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pronounce DOLOROUS:

DOE luh russ

connect this word to others:

Dolorous things are sad, sorrowful, full of tears, full of grieving.

You might be a little more familiar with its close synonym (and close etymological cousin) doleful. Doleful and dolorous mean the same thing, but doleful is more common: you're about three times more likely to bump into it.

And I bet you're very familiar with another cousin of dolorous: condolences, literally "pain or sorrows felt along with someone else."

See if you can recall an etymological opposite of dolorous. From Latin bits that literally mean "not sad, not sorrowful," the word __dolent today most often means "pleasantly lazy."

(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)

definition:

"Dolores" traces back to the Latin word dolor, meaning "pain, grief, or sorrow."

We took dolor into English and kept its meaning the same. Dolor is grief, sorrow, sadness.

And dolorous things are sad or sorrowful, full of grief or pain.

grammatical bits:

Part of speech:

Adjective: "a dolorous sigh;" "The sigh was long and dolorous."

Other forms:

The adverb is "dolorously."

For a noun, you can pick among "dolor," "dolorousness," and "dolorosity." I recommend keeping it simple by sticking with "dolor."

how to use it:

When you need a formal, somewhat rare, poetic or literary synonym of "sad" and "sorrowful," pick "dolorous."

You might talk about dolorous eyes and faces, dolorous sighs and voices, or dolorous moods or music.

examples:

"An older man paces inside a small patch of gated lawn, a curtain of mist wavering in the background. It's a wintry, melancholic scene made somewhat sadder by the tinkling of some dolorous piano music."
— Manohla Dargis, New York Times, 15 March 2018

"Rudy Giuliani and the Butt-Dialler Within All of Us... The follies will surely increase as we age—as confounding new contraptions hit the shelves and operating-system updates outpace slowing synapses. This is why the butt dial hits us where it hurts, triggering embarrassment that grades into a deeper existential dolor."
— Jody Rosen, The New Yorker, 5 November 2019

has this page helped you understand "dolorous"?

Awesome, I'm glad it helped!

Thanks for letting me know!
If you have any questions about this term, please message me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.

study it:

Explain the meaning of "dolorous" without saying "sorrowful" or "lugubrious."

try it out:

You've probably noticed how the word word "dolorous" sounds so much like the feminine first name "Dolores." It's no coincidence: "Dolores" originates from the Spanish phrase Maria de los Dolores, "Mary of the Sorrows," a title used in some Christian texts and art in reference to Mary, the mother of Jesus.

That's good to keep in mind when you bump into a Dolores in fiction.

Take Encanto, for example, a movie in which Dolores is "just out of reach" of the man she loves, a man who's "betrothed to another."

And as I've mentioned before, take Juan Rulfo's novel Pedro Páramo, in which we feel pity for Dolores Preciado, a woman who's married off to cancel a debt.

With these examples in mind, do you usually like it or dislike it when writers reveal a character's circumstances by giving them a certain name? For you, do these names enrich the story or spoil it, or both? Does it depend?

before you review, play:

Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.

Our game for this month is "That's Not a Thing, That's Two Things."

I describe it; you name it! For example, if I give you "It's that thing where Steve Harvey hosts two groups competing as vassals in medieval Europe," then you give me "Family Feudalism." To see the answer, scroll to the bottom.

Try this today:

It's that thing where a small mathematical device helps you tabulate how many monkeys escaped from the Alpha Genesis lab in South Carolina in November 2024.

review this word:

1. Opposites of DOLOROUS include

A. AGILE and LISSOME.
B. JOYFUL and FELICITOUS.
C. INTELLIGENT and ASTUTE.

2. From Carson McCullers's The Heart is a Lonely Hunter: "She was _____ and her face was dolorous."

A. slumped over
B. standing on tiptoe
C. pumping her fists to the sky

a final word:

I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love.

I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.

From my blog:
On vocabulary...
  36 ways to study words.
  Why we forget words, & how to remember them.
  How to use sophisticated words without being awkward.
On writing...
How to improve any sentence.
How to motivate our kids to write.
How to stop procrastinating and start writing.
How to bulk up your writing when you have to meet a word count.

From my heart: a profound thanks to the generous patrons, donors, and sponsors that make it possible for me to write these emails. If you'd like to be a patron or a donor, please click here. If you'd like to be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.

A disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.

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