saddens

verb

present tense third-person singular of sadden
as in depresses
to make sad the arrival of winter always saddens me

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of saddens However, that really saddens me now. — Abigail Wise, Outside, 3 Jan. 2026 Being stuck in the middle is what saddens the Others. — Ben Rosenstock, Vulture, 21 Nov. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for saddens
  1. depresses
  2. troubles
  3. oppresses
  4. bothers
  5. worries
Verb
  • The knob twists and depresses like a button (with programmable options for both a short and long press).
    — Brian Westover, PC Magazine, 3 Aug. 2026
  • Nevertheless, something might occur at work that depresses you.
    — Georgia Nicols, Denver Post, 10 June 2026
Definition of depresses
Verb
  • But the equity market’s rise this year has been driven primarily by just a few sectors, which troubles some analysts.
    — Steve Kopack, NBC news, 28 Sep. 2026
  • The aspect of the painting that troubles me most, though, is the sleeve of Amélie’s dress.
    — Zachary Fine, New Yorker, 31 Aug. 2026
Definition of troubles
Verb
  • Tromplz maps the violence that oppresses Venezuelans and exposes the displacement of Venezuelan migrants.
    — Katherine Brodsky, Variety, 18 Sep. 2026
  • It is governed by a brutal regime that oppresses its people and is an enemy to the United States.
    — The Editorial Board, Oc Register, 5 Mar. 2026
Definition of oppresses
Verb
  • Resist that reflex long enough to understand what bothers you.
    — Tarot.com, New York Daily News, 9 Oct. 2026
  • Fix what genuinely bothers you, but do not turn your whole life into a renovation project.
    — Tarot.com, Chicago Tribune, 8 Oct. 2026
Definition of bothers
Verb
  • Making wellness accessible As holistic wellness becomes increasingly mainstream, Warren-Thomas worries that rising costs are making some services inaccessible to the communities they were originally intended to serve.
    — Kansas City Star, Kansas City Star, 15 Oct. 2026
  • China worries The initial jitters came at the start of the week after China's leading memory chipmaker ChangXin Memory Technologies, or CXMT, announced plans to roll out a server memory product based on new architecture.
    — Arjun Kharpal, CNBC, 15 Oct. 2026
Definition of worries

Browse Nearby Words

saddening
saddens
saddle
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Saddens.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/saddens. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of compunction

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Can' vs. 'May'

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Did 'orange' the fruit or the color come first?

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
artwork of illustrated limes with the text limes and smile with an arrow connecting the two words
Quiz: Spot the Anagram! Scramble these words to find new words with the e...
See All