When someone cries easily over anything, what do you call this person?
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3crybaby. See more synonyms here– NVZ ♦Commented Sep 4, 2016 at 12:32
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"Fragile emotions", perhaps?– Hot LicksCommented Sep 4, 2016 at 12:37
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1What kind of word are you looking for? Crybaby is often used as an insult.– NVZ ♦Commented Sep 4, 2016 at 13:52
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"Weepy" would be a suitable adjective– Ronald SoleCommented Sep 4, 2016 at 13:59
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2Hello, welcome to English Language and Usage SE! I advise taking the site tour to get a feel for how the site works. The goal of this site is to provide detailed answers to questions about English. Because of this, questions are expected to provide detail and context to make it easier for other users to write good answers. Please edit your question after looking over the question checklist for single word requests.– herissonCommented Sep 4, 2016 at 16:11
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7 Answers
One-word possibilities include weeper for a person who weeps, crier for a person who cries, and bawler for a person who bawls; see Merriam-Webster.
These words do not always convey weeps, cries, or bawls "easily", but I've heard crier and weeper used in that context. For example, former U.S. Speaker of the House John Boehner often cried in public, and he referred to himself as a crier. The media also referred to him as a crier. (Google boehner cries) Some even dubbed Boehner the "Weeper of the House." (Google boehner weeper)
So crier, weeper, and even bawler seem at least close.
Note for potentially interested users: A person who cries easily may be a Highly Sensitive Person (Wall Street Journal, May, 18, 2015, Wikipedia).
answered Sep 4, 2016 at 14:49
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Why the downvote? I'd appreciate an explanation. Thanks. Commented Sep 4, 2016 at 19:34
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"A person who cries easily is a Highly Sensitive Person" This is not correct, and neither link supports this claim. Someone who cries frequently may or may not have a high SPS, and someone with a high SPS may or may not cry frequently.– barbecueCommented Sep 4, 2016 at 19:37
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@barbecue Thanks for providing your rationale. Much appreciated. I should have said that a person who cries easily may be a Highly Sensitive Person. In any event, I have deleted my first sentence. It was inessential to my one-word answers. I just thought other users might find it of interest. Commented Sep 4, 2016 at 19:45
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@barbeque Thank you. And thanks again for you comments. Commented Sep 4, 2016 at 20:04
If the person can sometimes cry easily or for no particular reason, I would say that he or she has a condition of Hypersensitivity. The adjective form would be sensitive/hypersensitive, depending on how easily the person cries. Hope this helps. ;)
From the most to the least insulting, I would suggest the following list. However some of the later terms are veering into euphemism rather than being strict synonyms.
- Crybaby
- Neurotic (means emotionally unstable, but a tendency to cry would be part of that)
- Weepy (although that might also be applied in the short term: "she was a bit weepy because her cat had just died").
- Over-sensitive
- Emotional
- Sentimental
- Sensitive
- Empathetic
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Only two of these specifically refer to crying in any way.– barbecueCommented Sep 4, 2016 at 19:33
Such a person could be described as lachrymose, though it's typically used in relatively formal or literary settings, rather than in everyday speech.
lachrymose - Given to shedding tears readily; tearful.
(Dictionary.com)
Feelings of sadness and tearfulness can be a result of bereavement or a clinical condition such as major depressive illness. If we exclude clinical conditions and consider a personality trait where minor criticism, insults, hints or the like, may be enough to make a person burst out crying, we could say they are oversensitive or thin-skinned.
- oversensitive (adj) - "extremely or excessively sensitive"
- thin-skinned (adj) - "easily bothered by criticism or insults"
- touchy (adj) - "easily hurt or upset by the things that people think or say about you"
One can be oversensitive and still not cry. However, when even minor criticism or negative comments can trigger that reaction, they are certainly oversensitive, touchy or thin-skinned.
answered Sep 4, 2016 at 14:26
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@NVZ A good point to be taken to Meta. Let's discuss it there. Commented Sep 4, 2016 at 15:37
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If you want an adjective, weepy (mentioned in a comment) works great for this.
If you want something more descriptive, you can say I cry easily. This works really well in real-world contexts; for example, someone has just told you a story about overcoming personal adversity and is surprised to see you crying. While dabbing at your eyes, you can explain:
I cry easily. What a wonderful story!
answered Sep 4, 2016 at 14:17
crybaby
1.
a person, especially a child, who cries readily for very little reason.
-Dictionary.com
(originally posted as a comment by @NVZ)
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2The problem with this word is that it's always an insult. If you use this label you are not empathising with the person crying. Instead you will come across as critical and scornful of their distress. So, an accurate word up to a point, but one with a lot of extra baggage (I'm not the downvote).– DanCommented Sep 4, 2016 at 13:44
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1This answer is far superior to most of the others in terms of capturing the meaning asked for in the original question. It's not polite or sensitive to the feelings of the person, but that was not specified as a requirement in the original question.– barbecueCommented Sep 4, 2016 at 19:32
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Thank you a lot. Actually, in my country we have a term "mít ướt" (Vietnamese) which means (usually) a child or a girl easily cries. I just want to find the closest translation to English.– Hà UyênCommented Sep 6, 2016 at 1:58