Webster's English Dictionary

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sadness

sad.ness \'sad-n*s\ n : quality, state, or fact of being sadM, GLOOM: 
   SADNESS is a general term that carries no suggestion of the cause, extent, 
   or exact nature of low spirits; DEPRESSION suggests a condition in which 
   one feels let down, disheartened, or enervated; MELANCHOLY suggests a mood 
   of sad and serious but not wholly unpleasant pensiveness; MELANCHOLIA 
   applies to a settled deep depression verging on insanity; DEJECTION implies 
   a usu. passing mood of being downcast or dispirited from a natural or 
   logical cause; GLOOM applies to the atmosphere or the effect on others 
   created by one afflicted with any of these moods or conditions SYN syn 
   DEPRESSION, MELANCHOLY, MELANCHOLIA, DEJECTION)