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dolesome

American  
[dohl-suhm] / ˈdoʊl səm /

adjective

Literary.
  1. doleful.


Etymology

Origin of dolesome

First recorded in 1525–35; dole 2 + -some 1

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.

See Examples For:

So cherished, I shall never die— Pray, therefore, spare your dolesome praises, Your elegies and plaintive cries, For I shall fertilize no daisies!

From Hoosier Lyrics by Eugene Field

And now begin the dolesome notes to grow   Audible unto me; now am I come   There where much lamentation strikes upon me.

From Divine Comedy, Longfellow's Translation, Complete by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

For frightful, yea, horrible is it down there;   And man ought not to tempt the heavenly Might, Or long to see, with prying unwholesome, What He graciously covers with darkness dolesome!

From Rampolli by George MacDonald

Thus we descended into the fourth chasm,   Gaining still farther on the dolesome shore   Which all the woe of the universe insacks.

From Divine Comedy, Longfellow's Translation, Complete by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

His eyes cast down, his forehead shorn had he   Of all its boldness, and he said, with sighs,   "Who has denied to me the dolesome houses?"

From Divine Comedy, Longfellow's Translation, Complete by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

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