Wept is the past tense of weep, which means to cry, usually with tears streaming down your face. When someone weeps, they express sadness through sobbing or tears that flow down their cheeks.

In stories, characters often weep during moments of deep emotion. A soldier might weep upon returning home after years away. People weep at funerals, weep tears of joy at weddings, and weep when they're overwhelmed by beauty or grief.

Weep feels more formal and literary than cry. You might tell your friend “I cried during that movie,” but a book might describe how “the mother wept at her daughter's bedside.” The word carries weight: it suggests tears that flow from something significant, not just a scraped knee or a bad day. When you read that someone wept, you know something important happened to them emotionally.