bewail

[bih-weyl]

verb (used with object)

1. to express deep sorrow for; lament.

   a little child bewailing the loss of her dog.

   Synonyms: mourn, bemoan

verb (used without object)

1. to express grief.

bewail

/ bɪˈweɪl /

verb

1. to express great sorrow over (a person or thing); lament

Other Word Forms

• bewailingly adverb
• bewailment noun
• unbewailed adjective
• unbewailing adjective
• bewailer noun
• bewailed adjective
• bewailing noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of bewail¹

Middle English word dating back to 1250–1300; be-, wail

Example Sentences

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

As his power ballad bewails, he's just Ken.

From Salon

And of course, articles bewailing “the death of newspaper comics” will certainly show up.

From Los Angeles Times

Damon Wise of Deadline also noted that Depp's role is "suspiciously light on dialogue" but bewailed the lack of passion on screen.

From BBC

A recent flurry of news articles bewailed our great American backwardness in wine drinking, quoting one of those dodgy market research surveys that seemed to be all over the map.

From Washington Post