dolesome

American  

[dohl-suhm] / ˈdoʊl səm /

adjective

Literary.

1. doleful.

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Etymology

Origin of dolesome

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

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

dolesome

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

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

A dolesome thing," he said; "but my mother was wont to sing it to the virginals.

From Henry Brocken His Travels and Adventures in the Rich, Strange, Scarce-Imaginable Regions of Romance by Walter De la Mare

In this vicinity was passed a dolesome time, the country being wild and rugged, affording handsome scenery under different circumstances, but for us it had no enchantment.

From History of the Eighty-sixth Regiment, Illinois Volunteer Infantry, during its term of service by John R. Kinnear

Ah! it’s a dolesome change from Sir Murray to Sir Brian yonder at the end, and worse still, to your father, as wouldn’t put nothing on but a breast-piece and back-piece and a steel cap.”

From The Young Castellan A Tale of the English Civil War by George Manville Fenn

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