mourn
verb (used without object)
to feel or express sorrow or grief.
had been mourning
-
past perfect progressiveof mourn.past perfect progressive
Used to describe an action that was ongoing continuously in the past up until another past event interrupted it.
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.
Residents had been mourning family members, neighbors and friends who died in the Feb. 15 landslide.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 21, 2022
“Short story: alive,” he told a stunned and furious Watson, who had been mourning his friend’s death for two years.
From New York Times ● Dec. 23, 2016
The day Michael Brown was killed, Elzie, who had been mourning the death of her mother, went down to Canfield Green, a housing complex near where Brown was shot, to pay her respects.
From New York Times ● May 4, 2015
He had been mourning her throughout the trip.
From Time Magazine Archive
The lover, however, sees nothing of all this, but relates the story of his unfortunate love-affair with as much simplicity as if he had been mourning the fall of the mother of mankind from paradise.
From Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 56, Number 347, September, 1844 by Various
