lachrymose

American  

[lak-ruh-mohs] / ˈlæk rəˌmoʊs /

adjective

1. suggestive of or tending to cause tears; mournful.

2. given to shedding tears readily; tearful.

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lachrymose British  

/ -ˌməʊz, ˈlækrɪˌməʊs, ˌlækrɪˈmɒsɪtɪ /

adjective

1. given to weeping; tearful

2. mournful; sad

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Other Word Forms

• lachrymosely adverb
• lachrymosity noun

Etymology

Origin of lachrymose

First recorded in 1655–65; from Latin lacrimōsus, equivalent to lacrim(a) “tear” ( lachrymal ) + -ōsus -ose ¹

Example Sentences

In what should be a pivotal scene, “Hamnet” looks much more like a satire of lachrymose Oscar bait than a portrait of the real thing.

From Salon

And all of this is somehow glommed on to the lachrymose story of a grieving parent and a dying world.

From Washington Post

“He had this drawing that, without calling attention to itself, without being lachrymose, but with a set of Boothisms that the reader understood, just moved me. So that, I could do,” Remnick adds.

From Washington Post

Roberts’s lachrymose gay novel is nine years overdue in becoming a sensation here.

From New York Times

He has come out on the other side of two of the most painful, lachrymose years that any entrepreneur could imagine, with self-inflicted wounds and schadenfreude galore.

From New York Times