lament
Americanverb (used with object)
-
laments,
present (3rd person singular)
-
lamented,
past participle, past
-
lamenting
present participle
verb (used without object)
-
laments,
present (3rd person singular)
-
lamented,
past participle, past
-
lamenting
present participle
noun
-
laments
plural
-
an expression of grief or sorrow.
- Synonyms:
- moan, lamentation
-
a formal expression of sorrow or mourning, especially in verse or song; an elegy or dirge.
verb
noun
-
an expression of sorrow
-
a poem or song in which a death is lamented
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
lamentsimple
-
lamentssimple
-
have lamentedperfect
-
has lamentedperfect
-
am lamentingprogressive
-
are lamentingprogressive
-
is lamentingprogressive
-
have been lamentingperfect progressive
-
has been lamentingperfect progressive
Past
-
lamentedsimple
-
had lamentedperfect
-
was lamentingprogressive
-
were lamentingprogressive
-
had been lamentingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of lament
First recorded in 1520–30; (noun) from Latin lāmentum “plaint”; (verb) from Latin lāmentārī, derivative of lāmentum
Explanation
If you are really upset or sorry about something, you might lament it. A lament is full of regret and grief. If you lament something, then you feel sorry about it. You could lament a mistake you made, or you could lament a horrible thing that happened to a friend. Also, a lament is an expression of grief. So if you keep saying how sorry you are about something, someone could say, "Enough of your laments!" There's also an old literary form called "a lament," which expresses feelings of loss in a long dramatic poem.
Vocabulary lists containing lament
Night
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Christmas Carol Vocab: A Lyrical Lexicon
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The Alchemist
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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.
See Examples For:
Dust Bowl troubadour Woody Guthrie, who’d be moving to California in a few years, wrote a lament to “Los Angeles New Year’s Flood.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 17, 2026
Her pure, warm soprano shone especially in the lament “Lungi da te, mio bene” with its mournful horn accompaniment, as Sifare realizes the hopelessness of his and Aspasia’s love.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026
New graduates lament that while their college professors discouraged the use of AI tools, hiring managers applaud it.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 7, 2026
Cassidy closed with what sounded like a lament.
From Slate ● Aug. 7, 2026
He says that this seems to be a poem about England but it is a lament for the poet’s native land, our own native land, Ireland.
From "Angela's Ashes: A Memoir" by Frank McCourt
"Racing done for!" laments the Daily Star as the head of Betfred, Fred Done, says he "won't sponsor the Derby if bet shop tax rises".
From BBC ● Sep. 22, 2026
McVay laments, usually lightheartedly, the loss of staff members that have ascended to become head coaches.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 2026
“Whatever we can do to be supportive is a good thing,” Florida Rep. Vern Buchanan saluted, taking a break from deficit laments.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 3, 2026
Standing in front of his mural, depicting the face of a girl with a feathered headdress, he laments that many artists were victims of the gangs and are now "disappeared."
From Barron's ● Aug. 17, 2026
Sarai thought of Ruby’s envious laments about how she “got to live.”
From "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor
Smith, who said she'd come to the fair to pet the animals, lamented that consumer prices were sky-high, adding: "It hurts at the pump."
From Barron's ● Sep. 10, 2026
"That's the biggest disappointment of the evening," lamented Vrancken.
From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026
Others lamented the death of a “part of their childhood.”
From Salon ● Aug. 21, 2026
Small-business owners in Russia have lamented how their inventories were wiped out.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
“I always knew that mine would kill us all, one way or another,” Mr. Matenopoulos lamented.
From "Moon Over Manifest" by Clare Vanderpool
Another used A.I. to animate a photo of Walters, the digital replica lamenting his sentence of “death by incarceration.”
From Slate ● Sep. 17, 2026
He is tempted by Vannacci but will not vote next year, he said, lamenting the lack of a long-term vision for the country.
From Barron's ● Sep. 2, 2026
I gave the staff at each of them my sob story, lamenting over my lost wedding dress.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026
She received dozens of letters lamenting the “good old days” of “American” recipes like cola-soaked pork chops, but she didn’t listen.
From Salon ● Aug. 6, 2026
The sounds were muffled, but continued: the haunted wind lamenting, the house shuddering, an increasing assortment of shrieks, screams, howls, and wild bursts of gibbering laughter.
From "Fablehaven" by Brandon Mull
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.
