From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishsadnesssad‧ness /ˈsædnəs/ ●●○ noun [uncountable] the state of feeling sad SYN unhappinessgreat/deep sadness She sensed Beth’s deep sadness. It was with great sadness that we learned of his death. There was a touch of sadness in his voice (=he sounded a little sad). His relief was tinged with sadness (=he also felt rather sad).THESAURUSsadness a sad feeling, caused especially when a happy time is ending, or when you feel sorry about someone else’s unhappinessCharles felt a great sense of sadness and loss.I noticed a little sadness in her eyes.unhappiness the unhappy feeling you have when you are in a very difficult or unpleasant situation, especially when this lasts for a long timeAfter years of unhappiness, she finally decided to leave him.She was a tense, nervous young woman, whose deep unhappiness was obvious to all those around her.You do not know how much pain and unhappiness you have caused.sorrow written the feeling of being very sad, especially because someone has died or because terrible things have happened to youThere seemed to be nowhere to go to be alone with her sorrow.His heart was filled with great sorrow after her death.misery great unhappiness, caused especially by living or working in very bad conditionsThe cold weather is with us again and the misery of the homeless is increasing. Thousands of families were destined to a life of misery. The misery and pain he caused were, for him, merely a measure of his success. despair a feeling of great unhappiness, because very bad things have happened and you have no hope that anything will changeAt the end of the month, she still had no job and was tired, frustrated, and close to despair.grief great sadness that you feel when someone you love has diedHe was overcome with grief when his wife died.heartache a strong feeling of great sadness, especially because you miss someone you loveShe remembered the heartache of the first Christmas spent away from her sons.depression a mental illness that makes someone feel so unhappy that they have no energy or hope for the future, and they cannot live a normal lifeHe slipped into a depression in which he hardly ate or even left his room.despondency formal a feeling of being very unhappy and without hopeShe felt useless, and this contributed to her despondency.melancholy literary a feeling of sadness, that you feel even though there is no particular reason for itModigliani expressed his melancholy through his painting.
Examples from the Corpus
sadness• I feel an aching sadness about Belinda amongst the pine resins and cinnamon smells and the Christmas music.• I felt sadness, despair, and a bitter rage.• I remembered with great sadness all the friends I had left behind.• He writes me about his sadness and loneliness, his hopes and fears, his dreams and plans.• Her eyes were full of sadness.• After her death, Charles felt a great sense of sadness and loss.• New thinking on sadness suggests that it is the result of depressed serotonin levels.• The sadness caused the drinking, not the other way around.• There was no way she knew to fill up the violent sadness that had emptied her.was tinged with sadness• But the joy of birth was tinged with sadness.• But New Zealand's delight was tinged with sadness after opener John Wright's announced his retirement. 