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

Etymology

Origin of elegiac

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

Example Sentences

Throughout this show, artists of all nationalities celebrate their homelands’ traditions and cultures, though there is a slightly elegiac air to these odes.

From The Wall Street Journal

In this longer and more structured form, what began as an intentional scattering of ashes becomes an elegiac letter home mediated by shipwreck.

From Los Angeles Times

Character actor Noah Segan’s directorial debut, the movie is a warmly elegiac portrait of the city and the pain of recognizing when your time has passed.

From Los Angeles Times

Film screenings were preceded by an elegiac video honoring him.

From The Wall Street Journal

The film, made in collaboration with his King's Foundation charity, is a sometimes elegiac look at his many decades of campaigning to protect the natural world.

From BBC

Related Words

• funereal
• melancholy
• mournful
• sad
• sorrowful