tearful

Tearful is an adjective used to describe someone or something that is characterized by tears or the inclination to cry. It can refer to the physical presence of moisture in the eyes, such as tear-filled or wet eyes, or to an emotional state that leads to crying, such as sadness, grief, or relief. The term is commonly applied to people, expressions, voices, and scenes.

Common usages include describing a person who is crying or about to cry, for example: a tearful farewell, a tearful speech, or a tearful reunion. It can also describe a voice or manner that is trembling or quivering from emotion, as in a tearful tone. In other cases, tearful can refer to eyes that are moist from irritation or foreign substances, such as a tearful eye caused by onion fumes or smoke.

Etymology is straightforward: tearful is formed from the noun tear and the suffix -ful, yielding an adjective that implies fullness of tears or a tendency to cry. The sense is long-standing in English, and the term remains common in everyday and literary use.

Related terms include lachrymose (a more formal or literary word for tearful sadness), weepy, crying, and tears. The phrase tearful is often contrasted with phrases like teary-eyed or tear-streaked, which describe the physical signs of crying and the marks tears leave on the face.