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.

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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

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noun

1. (often plural) an elegiac couplet or stanza

Other Word Forms

• elegiacally
  adverb

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Etymology

Origin of elegiac

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

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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."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

elegiac

Given Ms. Emin’s background, perhaps the most surprising thing about “A Second Life” is how elegiac and subdued the show feels.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026

It is, at moments, elegiac in its remembrance of the people whose suffering and resistance gave birth to the citizenship clause.

From Slate ● Jul. 2, 2026

In Norway, Opie hoped to explore — and contribute to — the long history of blue in art, from Pablo Picasso’s Blue Period to Yves Klein’s monochromes and Derek Jarman’s elegiac film “Blue.”

From Los Angeles Times ● May 26, 2026

Film screenings were preceded by an elegiac video honoring him.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 31, 2026

And while Lefty stops to breathe it in, I’d like to take this opportunity to resuscitate—for purely elegiac reasons and only for a paragraph—that city which disappeared, once and for all, in 1922.

From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides

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Related Words

• funereal
• melancholy
• mournful
• sad
• sorrowful

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