The Cebuano/Bisaya word masulob-on means “sad / sorrowful — feeling sadness or grief”. Pronounced mah-soo-lob-ON, it is used as an adjective by native Cebuano speakers across Cebu, Bohol, Leyte, and much of Mindanao. This page covers what masulob-on means in Bisaya, how to pronounce it correctly, how to use it in a sentence, and related words in the same category.
Bisaya word
masulob-on
English meaning
sad
Part of speech
Adjective
In Bisaya (Cebuano), masulob-on translates to “sad / sorrowful — feeling sadness or grief”. The word covers a range of closely related meanings — sad, sorrowful — and the right choice depends on context.
As an adjective in the Emotions category, “masulob-on” is part of the core Bisaya vocabulary that learners encounter early on. Native speakers use it across all registers — casual home conversations in Cebu, busy marketplaces in Bohol, and everyday interactions throughout the Visayas and Mindanao.
Capital letters mark the stressed syllable — say it louder and slightly longer.
Bisaya stress is phonemic — the wrong stress can make a word hard for native speakers to recognise. For masulob-on, put the main stress on the uppercase syllable in mah-soo-lob-ON. A good technique is to clap on the stressed syllable as you say the word: mah-soo-lob-on. Once the rhythm is natural, drop the clapping and let muscle memory take over.
Bisaya adjectives like "masulob-on" (sad) typically come before the noun they describe, similar to English. You can intensify them using "kaayo" — for example, "masulob-on kaayo" means "very sad". Negation is done with "dili" (not) or "wala" depending on context. Mastering descriptive adjectives like "masulob-on" is one of the quickest ways to make your Bisaya sentences richer and more expressive.
Expand your vocabulary by learning other Bisaya adjectives in the same category as “masulob-on”.
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