Hayakawa seems to see an overlap between sorrow and sadness, but views sorrow as distinguishable by its admixture of regret, which sadness does not centrally possess. Sadness is a very general term for feelings of unhappiness or dispiritedness, while sorrow is a very general term for feelings of loss or guilt. The Merriam-Webster treatment of the two words suggests that the source of confusion between them isn't so much the similarity of the feelings they describe as the level of generality that each word operates on. Sorrow is the most general term, implying a sense of loss or of guilt , though not close synonyms, share the idea of distress of mind. Sadness is the general term apart from the context it carries no explicit suggestions of the cause of the low spirits or of the extent to which one is deprived of cheerfulness are comparable when they mean a state of mind when one is unhappy or low-spirited or an attack of low spirits. The MW entry for the sadness group offers these remarks: The entry for sorrow includes coverage of grief, heartache, heartbreak, anguish, woe, and regret. The entry for sadness includes coverage of the related terms depression, melancholy, melancholia, dejection, gloom, blues, and dumps. Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Synonyms (1984) makes sadness and sorrow the lead words in two separate groups of synonyms-neither of which includes the other. Hayakawa does not address sadness or sorrow as a noun at all. Sorrow may suggest milder feelings or a less tragic loss than the foregoing words it combines sadness with regret, contrasting with lament by suggesting grieving that is inward or, at most, quietly express. Hayakawa, Choose the Right Word: A Modern Guide to Synonyms (1968) has this comment about sorrow as a verb: Grief is more acute and less enduring than sorrow sorrow and grief are for definite cause sadness and melancholy may arise from a vague sense of want or loss, from a low state of health, or other ill-defined cause sadness may be momentary melancholy is more enduring, and may become chronic.Д«ut sorrow also appears under other general headings, including 'Misfortune,' 'Mourn,' and 'Repentance,' whereas sadness does not. Grief is acute mental pain resulting from loss, misfortune, or deep disappointment. James Fernald, Funk & Wagnalls Standard Handbook of Synonyms, Antonyms & Prepositions (1947) lists sadness and sorrow (along with nine other words) as synonyms under the general heading 'Grief.' Here is how Fernald distinguishes between the two terms: Therefore it can be concluded that sorrow is a more intense form of sadness, which is the basic feeling of unhappiness. Therefore in summary sadness is a state of unhappiness while sorrow is a sense of deep distress, disappointment, or sadness. sorrowing) the sorrowing widower found it hard to relate to his sons. в–Є the outward expression of grief lamentation. It was a great sorrow to her when they separated.

в–Є an event or circumstance that causes sorrow: Noun a feeling of deep distress caused by lossДisappointment, or other misfortune suffered by oneself or others:ДЄ bereaved person needs time to work through their sorrow.

Therefore sadness can be said to be a state or condition of unhappiness. He told her the sad story of his life | a sad day for us all. в–Є causing or characterized by sorrow or regret unfortunate and regrettable: I was sad and subdued | theylooked at her with sad, anxious faces. в–ёnoun the condition or quality of being sad: Sadness is defined in the Oxford dictionary as follows:

Sadness and sorrow