Sadness

Sadness is an emotion. It is the opposite of happiness. People feel sad when something bad has happened, for example, if their mother or father has died.

Part of a series on
Emotions
Acceptance Affection Amusement Anger Angst Anguish Annoyance Anticipation Anxiety Apathy Arousal Awe Boredom Confidence Contentment Courage Cruelty Curiosity Depression Desire Despair Disappointment Disgust Distrust Ecstasy Embarrassment Empathy Enthusiasm Envy Euphoria Excitement Fear Frustration Gratification Gratitude Greed Grief Guilt Happiness Hatred Horror Hostility Humiliation Interest Jealousy Kindness Loneliness Love Lust Nostalgia Outrage Panic Passion Pity Pleasure Pride Rage Regret Rejection Remorse Resentment Sadness Saudade Schadenfreude Self-confidence Shame Shock Shyness Social connection Sorrow Suffering Surprise Trust Wonder Worry

A young boy looking sad

In capital letters, SAD, or S.A.D. is short for "Seasonal affective disorder". SAD is a sickness that some people have in the winter. They feel depressed as the nights become longer and there is less daylight.

When people are very sad, and for a long time, the person could have a serious mental illness called depression or Bipolar disorder.