mournful
Americanadjective
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feeling or expressing sorrow or grief; sorrowful; sad.
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of or relating to mourning for the dead.
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causing grief or lament.
a mournful occasion.
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gloomy, somber, or dreary, as in appearance or character.
mournful shadows.
adjective
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evoking grief; sorrowful
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gloomy; sad
Other Word Forms
- mournfully adverb
- mournfulness noun
- overmournful adjective
- overmournfully adverb
- overmournfulness noun
- unmournful adjective
- unmournfully adverb
Etymology
Origin of mournful
First recorded in 1375–1425, mournful is from the late Middle English word morneful. See mourn, -ful
Explanation
A mournful person is someone who is full of sorrow, like a little girl who has just lost her new puppy. Mournful is a word that is often associated with someone who has experienced the death of someone close to them. A person would feel mournful if their loved one had just died. Mournful can also describe the expression of sad feelings, like a person dressed in black and sobbing into a handkerchief. You would not be mournful if you had just failed a quiz, but you would be mournful if your twenty-year marriage had just failed.
Vocabulary lists containing mournful
List 4
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"Rikki-Tikki-Tavi" by Rudyard Kipling
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Chains
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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.
January’s spending data told a mournful story: Americans are spending more on healthcare and housing, and pulling back on clothing, cars, and just about everything else.
From Barron's • Mar. 13, 2026
"Oh Dipu, where is my Dipu?" she cries, collapsing into a mournful lament.
From BBC • Feb. 15, 2026
I didn’t know just how mournful to be, though, as the festival marched along, it became clear there was a space for nostalgic reflections.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 31, 2026
It’s a moment of breathtaking poise and mournful feeling, and it prepares us for what’s to come, when Ms. Huston delivers a monologue about a long-lost love with quiet, devastating force.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 20, 2025
At that Tansy called out, low and mournful and full of pain and fright.
From "The Midwife's Apprentice" by Karen Cushman
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
