elegiac

American  

[el-i-jahy-uhk, -ak, ih-lee-jee-ak] / ˌɛl ɪˈdʒaɪ ək, -æk, ɪˈli dʒiˌæk /

adjective

1. used in, suitable for, or resembling an elegy.

2. expressing sorrow or lamentation.

   elegiac strains.

3. Classical Prosody. noting a distich or couplet the first line of which is a dactylic hexameter and the second a pentameter, or a verse differing from the hexameter by suppression of the arsis or metrically unaccented part of the third and the sixth foot.

---

noun

1. an elegiac or distich verse.

2. a poem in such distichs or verses.

elegiac British  

/ ˌɛlɪˈdʒaɪək /

adjective

1. resembling, characteristic of, relating to, or appropriate to an elegy

2. lamenting; mournful; plaintive

3. denoting or written in elegiac couplets or elegiac stanzas

---

noun

1. (often plural) an elegiac couplet or stanza

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• elegiacally
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of elegiac

First recorded in 1575–85; from Middle French, from Latin elegīacus, from Greek elegeiakós; equivalent to elegy + -ac

Explanation

If there's one song on your playlist that always brings tears to your eyes, maybe it's because it has an elegiac quality. Elegiac means "mournful or sad." The adjective elegiac is useful when you're talking about music, a movie, a book, or another work of art that has a sorrowful tone. Sometimes elegiac specifically refers to something or someone that's gone: a person who's died, or a time in the past, especially if you feel a sense of longing for it. You can speak in an elegiac way, or sing an elegiac tune. The word comes from the Greek elegos, "poem or song of lament."

Related Words

• funereal
• melancholy
• mournful
• sad
• sorrowful