[ adv ] with sadness; in a sorrowful manner <adv.all> his mother looked at him dolefully when he told her he had joined the Army
Doleful \Dole"ful\, a. Full of dole or grief; expressing or exciting sorrow; sorrowful; sad; dismal.
With screwed face and doleful whine. --South.
Regions of sorrow, doleful shades. --Milton.
Syn: Piteous; rueful; sorrowful; woeful; melancholy; sad gloomy; dismal; dolorous; woe-begone. -- {Dole"ful*ly}, adv. -- {Dole"ful*ness}, n.
Described dolefully by one opponent as 'a priceless asset', the shadow chancellor's mock budget was delivered with an articulate gravitas which obscured for several days the questions it failed to answer.
"Ma'am," he replied dolefully, "the only thing I'm running for these days is cover."