SAD in sign language

ASL sign for "sad"

"How do you say 'sad' in American Sign Language (ASL)?"

Definition: Feeling or expressing unhappiness; an emotion showing sorrow; unhappy.

Pronunciation (sign description): Both "5" hands (handshape), palms in (orientation) in front of the face (location), move down (movement). Sometimes, one-handed version is used in informal register.

Subtly sad face accompanying this sign is a common facial expression. Occasionally in colloquialism, other subtle facial expressions used by Deaf signers may convey a different meaning from sarcasm to "too bad", too.

Toddler signing "sad"

This time-lapse video shows how the ASL-speaking bilingual toddler acquired the ASL word "sad".

Notice that the toddler used one-handed and two-handed versions in natural contexts. At age 2;10, she knew how to pretend to be sad, ha.

Vocabulary

Related signs: UNHAPPY, SORROWFUL, DOWNHEARTED, DEJECTED, DEPRESSED, TRAGIC, POUT.

Antonym: HAPPY.