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:
Cassidy closed with what sounded like a lament.
From Slate ● Aug. 7, 2026
New graduates lament that while their college professors discouraged the use of AI tools, hiring managers applaud it.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 7, 2026
It’s not just a lament about loneliness; it’s a challenge to change your perspective and maybe your life.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
Bret may lament childhood’s demise, but if you had helicopter parents, these throes probably look less like trash than fire.
From Salon ● Aug. 6, 2026
He would scold her gently and lament, “Am I never to have a grandson?”
From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton
Both displayed robust instruments with exceptional clarity, agility in florid passages, and moving sincerity in the many laments, which were ornamented with elegant subtlety.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
In “Remake,” McElwee laments the hope that making “Photographic Memory” gave him, an aspiration that he was depicting his son on the cusp of finding his way through the dark.
From Salon ● Jul. 24, 2026
"I feel like my hands are tied because I can't find her," she laments.
From Barron's ● Jun. 30, 2026
He also laments that the pizza boxes he uses, which are made in China, once cost him 30 cents and now run almost 67 cents apiece.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 14, 2026
This Son is a god who died in three hours, with moans, gasps and laments.
From "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel
Small-business owners in Russia have lamented how their inventories were wiped out.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
In the days leading up to the eclipse, many lamented that online retailers like Amazon were no longer offering speedy delivery options.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026
The 38-year-old San Fernando Valley native, who is an avid fan of 1950s and ’60s style, lamented the loss of a long-tenured eatery.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026
Only evidence will win over every doubter within Rangers' support, who have also lamented the lack of a figurehead during a tumultuous period of managerial upheaval.
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026
“The accounts we receive here,” he lamented, “are so opposite and unsatisfactory that we know not on what to rely.”
From "An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793" by Jim Murphy
"I was born in the Revolution and through it I was able to find my way," he said, lamenting the loss of Castro's leadership in Cuba today.
From Barron's ● Aug. 11, 2026
He is lamenting the death of his wife, Seleuce, who is not actually dead but also on Cyprus, pretending to be a shepherdess and looking for him.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
The brother of the man who passed away when he was 70, having only claimed one Social Security check, was lamenting how he could have used that money to fund his retirement.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 15, 2026
In life, she’s the kid who realizes that parents don’t love all their children equally, and instead of lamenting that absence, surrounds herself with a chosen family that values her as she is.
From Salon ● May 20, 2026
At her elbow, Briony was telling Leon about the play she had written for him, and lamenting her failure to stage it.
From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan
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.
