lament
Americanverb (used with object)
-
laments,
present (3rd person singular)
-
lamented,
past participle, past
-
lamenting
present participle
verb (used without object)
-
laments,
present (3rd person singular)
-
lamented,
past participle, past
-
lamenting
present participle
noun
-
laments
plural
-
an expression of grief or sorrow.
- Synonyms:
- moan, lamentation
-
a formal expression of sorrow or mourning, especially in verse or song; an elegy or dirge.
verb
noun
-
an expression of sorrow
-
a poem or song in which a death is lamented
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
lamentsimple
-
lamentssimple
-
have lamentedperfect
-
has lamentedperfect
-
am lamentingprogressive
-
are lamentingprogressive
-
is lamentingprogressive
-
have been lamentingperfect progressive
-
has been lamentingperfect progressive
Past
-
lamentedsimple
-
had lamentedperfect
-
was lamentingprogressive
-
were lamentingprogressive
-
had been lamentingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of lament
First recorded in 1520–30; (noun) from Latin lāmentum “plaint”; (verb) from Latin lāmentārī, derivative of lāmentum
Explanation
If you are really upset or sorry about something, you might lament it. A lament is full of regret and grief. If you lament something, then you feel sorry about it. You could lament a mistake you made, or you could lament a horrible thing that happened to a friend. Also, a lament is an expression of grief. So if you keep saying how sorry you are about something, someone could say, "Enough of your laments!" There's also an old literary form called "a lament," which expresses feelings of loss in a long dramatic poem.
Vocabulary lists containing lament
Night
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Christmas Carol Vocab: A Lyrical Lexicon
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The Alchemist
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Cassidy closed with what sounded like a lament.
From Slate ● Aug. 7, 2026
New graduates lament that while their college professors discouraged the use of AI tools, hiring managers applaud it.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 7, 2026
Bret may lament childhood’s demise, but if you had helicopter parents, these throes probably look less like trash than fire.
From Salon ● Aug. 6, 2026
As many fans lament the steep cost of events, these limited initiatives are only a band-aid.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026
The hobbits fell asleep to the sound of the soft singing of Bregalad, that seemed to lament in many tongues the fall of trees that he had loved.
From "The Two Towers" by J. R. R. Tolkien
The report laments that “health care has become unaffordable for millions of Americans even when they have insurance.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026
In “Remake,” McElwee laments the hope that making “Photographic Memory” gave him, an aspiration that he was depicting his son on the cusp of finding his way through the dark.
From Salon ● Jul. 24, 2026
“Sometimes I think I can feel the planet just hemorrhaging under all this greed. Like it’s tectonic,” she laments.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2026
"Blocks of flats are being built where there used to be one- or two-storey houses," he laments.
From Barron's ● Jul. 3, 2026
“Occasionally you’ll get a client who thinks he’s bought a guaranteed ticket to the summit,” laments Peter Athans, a highly respected guide who’s made eleven trips to Everest and reached the top four times.
From "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer
Still, in a recent YouTube video, the woman, who goes by “Rabbit Habbit” online, lamented leaving what’s likely to be years of surefire six-figure bonuses.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026
Only evidence will win over every doubter within Rangers' support, who have also lamented the lack of a figurehead during a tumultuous period of managerial upheaval.
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026
She has lamented that the UN has become what she calls a "risk-conservative organization."
From Barron's ● Jul. 23, 2026
Previously, these users had to rely on “manual monitoring” of Truth Social, the company lamented.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026
When the company returned home, the raider lamented, smallpox “spread from one tent to another as if the Bad Spirit carried it.”
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
"I was born in the Revolution and through it I was able to find my way," he said, lamenting the loss of Castro's leadership in Cuba today.
From Barron's ● Aug. 11, 2026
He is lamenting the death of his wife, Seleuce, who is not actually dead but also on Cyprus, pretending to be a shepherdess and looking for him.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
The Italian dismissed Djokovic effortlessly on Centre Court 12 months ago - a defeat that left the seven-time Wimbledon champion lamenting his age.
From BBC ● Jul. 7, 2026
Those in the data center industry are lamenting the state of public opinion.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 2, 2026
“I have heard him lamenting her having no instrument repeatedly; oftener than I should suppose such a circumstance would, in the common course of things, occur to him.”
From "Emma" by Jane Austen
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
