sorglig

Swedish

Etymology

From Old Swedish sorgheliker, equivalent to sorg +‎ -lig (“-ly”). Cognate of German sorglich, Danish sørgelig.

Adjective

sorglig (comparative sorgligare, superlative sorgligast)

sad (evoking sadness)
en sorglig film
a sad movie

Det är sorgligt när hjälten dör i slutet av boken
It's sad when the hero dies at the end of the book

en sorglig situation med mycket onödigt lidande
a sad situation with a lot of unnecessary suffering
- 2007, Laser Inc (lyrics and music), “Det var en gång en fågel [Once upon a time, there was a bird]”:
  Det var en gång en liten fågel. Ja, en fågel. Han bodde på landet, och Roger hette han. Han ville gärna leka med sina vänner, med sina vänner, men det fick inte han. Men denna historia slutar sorgligt, för Roger blev skjuten, skjuten i magen av gamle jägar'n [jägaren] Pär. Han ville hem och äta, äta en fågel med lite potäter, men Roger hann iväg.
  Once upon a time, there was a little bird. Yes, a bird. He lived in the countryside, and Roger was his name. He wanted to play with his friends ["He wanted gladly to play with his friends," in the sense of, "He wanted, with keenness, to play with his friends" – the translation skips the gärna as it doesn't make much difference to the meaning], with his friends, but [that – to play with his friends] he didn't get to. But this story ends sadly, because Roger was shot, shot in the stomach by old hunter Pär ["den gamle jägaren Pär" matches "the old hunter Pär" – skipping "den" makes "jägaren Pär" sound lexicalized]. He wanted to go home and eat, eat a bird with some potatoes, but Roger got away [in time].
sad (pitiful or pathetic (evoking sadness, or contempt when more figurative))
Han är bara sorglig
He's just sad

sorgliga, patetiska små varelser
sad, pathetic little creatures

De bor under rätt sorgliga förhållanden
They live in pretty sad conditions

Usage notes

Of a situation, story, book, movie, or the like in (sense 1). For a person, sorglig means sad as in pitiful or pathetic. For feeling sad, sorgsen or ledsen is used.

Declension

Inflection of **sorglig**
Indefinite	positive	comparative	superlative¹
common singular	sorglig	sorgligare	sorgligast
neuter singular	sorgligt	sorgligare	sorgligast
plural	sorgliga	sorgligare	sorgligast
masculine plural²	sorglige	sorgligare	sorgligast

Definite	positive	comparative	superlative
masculine singular³	sorglige	sorgligare	sorgligaste
all	sorgliga	sorgligare	sorgligaste

¹ The indefinite superlative forms are only used in the predicative.
² Dated or archaic.
³ Only used, optionally, to refer to things whose natural gender is masculine.

Derived terms

sorglighet

Related terms

References