plaintive

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“
Daisy was exceedingly fond of every melody and harmony that was worthy the name; and this--plaintive, slow, simple--seemed to go not only through her ears, but down to the very bottom of her heart.

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Definitions (6)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. adjective Expressing sorrow; mournful or melancholy.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (3)

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Examples (50)

  • —In Africa some of the native melodies are plaintive, and the words simple and affecting; but whether their rude strains of nature can be classed with poetry, as the songs of the bards, the Skalds of Europe, ;c. ;c., I know not This brief list of poets I have written down from memory without any book of reference; consequently some errors may occur, but I think, if any, very trivial. —  Life of Lord Byron, Vol. I.
  • “I am happy to arrange an appointment for you Zhenya,” she said, his nickname a plaintive sigh, and Evgeniy at once resented her pleading, pitying tone. —  EQMM,June2007
  • At first their noises had been unintelligible and plaintive, then angry and succinct, mostly from Mary. —  Magazine - Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine - 2007-02 - February
  • He was quick to note the changed tone of the brutes' pursuit, plaintive, anxious, consciously thwarted. —  The Crucial Moment 1911
  • All their songs are plaintive, and contain modulations of the voice so mysteriously charming in effect, and so good in tone, that they really affect one profoundly. —  In the Forbidden Land
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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

mournful ·  high-pitched ·  doleful ·  piteous ·  melodious ·  wordless ·  wistful ·  anguished ·  tremulous ·  long-drawn ·  querulous ·  raucous
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English plaintif, from Old French, aggrieved, lamenting, from plaint, complaint; see plaint.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. from French plaintif, lamenting; from plainte, lament: see plaint. Cf. plaintiff.
 

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/ˈpleɪntɪv/
by American Heritage

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