Sad

a. [compar. SADDER; superl. SADDEST.] [A-S. sād, satisfied, sated, weary, sick; O. D. sad, sat, sated, full; N. D. sat, O. Sax. sad, Icel. sadr, saddr, saturated, sated; Goth. saths, sads, id., Dan. sat, sedate, solid, grave; O. H. Ger. sat, sated, filled; N. H. Ger. satt, satiated, full, weary, sick, sad, of colors, e. g., ein sattes grün, a sad green.] 1. Heavy; weighty; ponderous; close; hard. [Obs.] “His hand more sad than lump of lead.” Spencer. Chalky lands are naturally cold and sad. Mortimer. 2. Heavy; dull; grave; dark; — said of colors. “Sad-colored clothes.” Walton. Wood, or wode, is used by the dyers to lay the foundation of all sad colors. Mortimer.

3. Serious; grave; not light, gay, frivolous, or volatile. “Lady Catharine, a sad and religious woman.” Bacon.
4. Affected with grief or unhappiness; cast down with affliction; downcast; gloomy; mournful. The angelic guards ascended, mute and sad. Milton.
5. Afflictive; calamitous; causing sorrow; as, a sad accident; a sad misfortune.
6. Hence, bad; naughty; troublesome; wicked. [Colloq.] A grim Daniel Scroggins, and an aproned Sam Smith, . . . sad tipsy fellows, both of them. L. Taylor.

☞ Sad is sometimes used in the formation of self-explaining compounds; as, sad-colored, sad-eyed, sad-hearted, sad-looking, and the like. Syn.—Sorrowful; mournful; gloomy; dejected; depressed; cheerless; downcast; sedate; serious; grave; grievous; afflictive; calamitous.