plaintive
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
- plaintively adverb
- plaintiveness noun
Etymology
Origin of plaintive
First recorded in 1350–1400; plaint + -ive; replacing Middle English plaintif, from Middle French
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.
Even Veronika had the sense not to repeat her plaintive question, “I wonder how they heard of me.”
From Literature
The words seemed to come from outside her, but it was only a whippoorwill offering its plaintive, three-note cry.
From Literature
Tom Petty vowing not to back down sounds plaintive and aspirational.
This pageant of puppetry includes a flutter of butterflies, a goat with a plaintive bleat, a menagerie of wild animals and, at one point, a school of glowing fish.
From Los Angeles Times
The English horn issued a plaintive, simple melody, as if trying to evoke older memories of a nearly forgotten time.
From Los Angeles Times
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.
