bewail

American  

[bih-weyl] / bɪˈweɪl /

verb (used with object)

1. to express deep sorrow for; lament.

   a little child bewailing the loss of her dog.

   Synonyms:

   mourn , bemoan

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verb (used without object)

1. to express grief.

bewail British  

/ bɪˈweɪl /

verb

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

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Other Word Forms

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

Etymology

Origin of bewail

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

Example Sentences

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

I especially remember Hans Sachs’s soliloquy, when this generally tolerant character suddenly, angrily bewails the selfishness he witnesses in his neighbors.

From New York Times

A mocking cartoon showed a distraught Johnson with a hand over his face bewailing “the scurrilous attacks on the Mother of my Children.”

From Washington Post

In a different version of "Blow, My Bully Boys, Blow," the character bewails poor food quality aboard the ship: "What d'ye think they have for dinner? / Monkey tails and bullock's liver."

From Salon

Trump’s yearslong bewail of Philadelphia reached its aria in the presidential debate on the evening of Sept. 29.

From New York Times