ˈdōlərəs sometimes ˈdälər- or dəˈlōr- or dəˈlȯr- adjective
Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French dolereus, from Late Latin dolorosus, from Latin dolor pain + -osus -ous
1. : occasioning pain
washed down with wine of dolorous acerbity — Nathaniel Hawthorne
2.
a. : causing mental suffering or distress
women and children howling and weeping — a most dolorous sight — Dorothy Thompson
b. : highly regrettable : deplorable , lamentable
the causes which have brought the world to its present dolorous pass — P.E.More
3. : marked by deep misery : woeful
during the dolorous years of the depression — Amy Loveman
4. : expressive of sorrow or affliction : doleful , lugubrious
that dolorous aspect of human nature which in comedy is best portrayed by Molière — T.S.Eliot
dolorous ballads of death and violence
• do·lo·rous·ly adverb
• do·lo·rous·ness noun -es