“Full of woe” means feeling deep sadness, grief, or distress. In modern use, it can also mean having lots of troubles or problems.

Common meaning

  • Emotional: very sad, sorrowful, or miserable.
  • Everyday speech: dealing with many problems or misfortunes.

Example

  • “Her face was full of woe” means she looked very sad.
  • “Financial woes” means money troubles.

In the rhyme

In “Monday’s Child,” “full of woe” is a traditional line describing a child as sad or unlucky. The wording is part of a nursery rhyme and is not meant as a literal diagnosis of someone’s feelings.

Would you like a couple of easy example sentences using the phrase?