Mournful, a.
Full of sorrow; expressing, or intended to express, sorrow; mourning; grieving; sad; also, causing sorrow; saddening; grievous; as, a mournful person; mournful looks, tones, loss. -- Mourn"ful*ly, adv. -- Mourn"ful*ness, n.
Syn. -- Sorrowful; lugubrious; sad; doleful; heavy; afflictive; grievous; calamitous.
Shades of meaning
Fernald has no entry of its own for mournful; he lists it under pitiful.
He lists it without comment; the entries above explain its neighbors.