tearful
tearful — adjective
1. having tears in your eyes, or showing that you are close to crying, because of s
having tears in your eyes, or showing that you are close to crying, because of sadness, strong emotion, or pain.
Soraya became tearful when she talked about her grandmother's illness.
be/become + tearful (predicative)
Nadia wiped her eyes after giving a tearful goodbye to her classmates.
tearful + noun for emotional events
The tearful child sat alone on the school bench until the bell rang.
Ramón found his grandmother tearful at the kitchen table, holding an old photograph.
Hui's voice was tearful as she read the letter from her sister.
- teary
Slightly less intense than 'tearful'; suggests having tears without necessarily crying openly.
- weepy
More informal, often describes someone who cries easily.
- in tears
A fixed phrase that specifically means actively crying, not just close to crying.
- emotional
Broader meaning — strong feelings that may or may not produce tears.
- dry-eyed
Not crying and showing no emotion in the eyes.
文法句型
be/become/look/sound + tearful
tearful + noun
用法筆記
Frequently used both attributively (before a noun, e.g. a tearful farewell) and predicatively (after a linking verb, e.g. she became tearful). The attributive position often describes an emotional event (a tearful scene) rather than a person directly.