bewail
Americanverb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
verb
Other Word Forms
- bewailed adjective
- bewailer noun
- bewailing noun
- bewailingly adverb
- bewailment noun
- unbewailed adjective
- unbewailing adjective
Etymology
Origin of bewail
Explanation
The verb bewail means to lament or express great sorrow. When your big brother or sister starts kindergarten, you may bewail the fact that they can't play with you all day anymore but you'll be excited when you get to go to school also! The verb bewail is from the Old Norse word væla, meaning to lament. The prefix be- is added when you want to make something stronger or more intense. So bewail means to greatly lament and when compared to bemoan, a word with similar meaning, bewailing would be louder and more intense. You can bewail the death of a friend, but if you bewail a minor irritation like a broken nail, people will accuse you of being overly dramatic.
Vocabulary lists containing bewail
Beowulf
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A Midsummer Night's Dream
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"The Odyssey" by Homer, Books 19–24
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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.
Readers who don’t make it that far will no doubt bewail the novel’s unlikely premise and other stumbling-block implausibilities.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 21, 2025
Across the country, North and South, Christians gathered in their churches to remember the crucifixion of Christ and to bewail their sins, which made such a sacrifice necessary.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 26, 2018
Of course, the title is also a pun: Eugenides characters sure do like to bewail their fates.
From Washington Post • Sep. 28, 2017
That night I called my friend Kirstin to bewail the ignominy of having been swallowed whole by a stairwell.
From Slate • Jun. 5, 2017
What profit to bewail that which has always been and cannot change?
From "Nectar in a Sieve" by Kamala Markandaya
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.
