Human emotions are strange and complex. Thus, the English language isn’t always able to capture the amorphous things we feel inside.
Sadly, if you’re wondering what to call something “sad but beautiful” in English, there is no precise term.
However, we’ve provided a list of terms and phrases that you can use to capture this idea, especially in your writing!
Words for Something That Is Sad but Beautiful
- Solemn beauty
- Poignant beauty
- Pathos
- Melancholic beauty
- Wistful beauty
- Forlorn beauty
- Sublime beauty
- Anguished beauty
- Haunting beauty
- Tristesse beauty
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- “Solemn beauty” refers to a place, person, or thing that is beautiful yet gloomy.
- A “poignant beauty” is something beautiful that makes an impact on the viewer, evoking a sharp feeling of sadness.
- “Pathos” refers to something so beautiful or artistic that it moves the viewer and creates strong feelings of sympathy and sadness for the subject.
Keep reading to see how we use our top three words and phrases for something that is sad but beautiful in a couple of helpful example sentences.
Solemn Beauty
When we speak about a “solemn beauty,” we are referring to someone or something that is startlingly beautiful yet simultaneously gloomy and somber.
Merriam-Webster defines the word “solemn” as “marked by grave sedateness and earnest sobriety.”
Therefore, the phrase “solemn beauty” conjures the image of a sad yet beautiful face. Alternatively, it can create the image of a beautiful scene that is shrouded in sadness for other reasons.
Consider, for example, a burial taking place at a beautiful place. You can describe the “solemn beauty” of the occasion because people are united in a beautiful area.
However, the reason for their unification is the death of a loved one. In short, it is a bitter-sweet feeling.
Have a look at the following example sentences to see this phrase in action:
I was struck by the solemn beauty of the scene before me; the village I once loved was burned to ash and embers, but from the dust sprung new flowers and grass, as if to blanket the immeasurable destruction of before.
We stopped at a black-and-white photograph of a young soldier, and although he must only have only been about 17, I could see a decade’s worth of life within the solemn beauty of his face.
Poignant Beauty
The Cambridge Dictionary defines the word “poignant” as “causing or having a very sharp feeling of sadness.”
Therefore, a “poignant beauty” is something or someone whose beauty evokes feelings of sadness in any observer. In other words, it is something impactful.
There can be a number of reasons for something being sadly beautiful.
For example, you may feel sad when you look at a picture of something beautiful because that beautiful person or place no longer exists.
Therefore, there is poignancy in the fact that they are gone and that you can no longer observe their beauty in person.
Let’s see this phrase in a couple of example sentences:
I gazed at the old portrait and considered the poignant beauty of the youthful face gazing back at me. I felt myself mourn for the soft lines that once existed on her face, since harshened by her age and, more so, her hatred for me.
The castle is a place of poignant beauty; for although it has an artistic and grand exterior, the echoes of terror that occurred within its walls still linger.
Pathos
Another word to describe something beautiful and sad at the same time is “pathos.” More precisely, there is something inherently beautiful about experiencing “pathos.”
The Cambridge Dictionary defines “pathos” as “the power of a person, situation, piece of writing, or work of art to cause feelings of sadness, especially because people feel sympathy.”
In other words, “pathos” is an appeal to our emotions through the creative use of words or imagery in a piece of writing or art. Often, literature will evoke great feelings of sadness using beautifully written sentences and prose.
The same can occur when you are watching an actor perform in a play. You can notice the beauty of their craft while feeling moved by their performance. In such an instance, you are experiencing “pathos.”
Finally, let’s see a few example sentences that include the term “pathos,” particularly as it relates to beauty:
The scene was filled with beauty and pathos in equal parts.
The pathos in the film moved me and even brought tears to my eyes, yet the imagery was so light and beautiful.