adjective
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wretched, deplorable, or distressing
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an archaic word for mournful
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of lamentable
1400–50; late Middle English < Latin lāmentābilis, equivalent to lāmentā ( rī ) ( see lament) + -bilis -ble
Explanation
Something that's lamentable is unfortunate. If your basketball team gets defeated in the final game, you could call it a lamentable way for the season to end. Something that's not satisfactory can be described as lamentable, like a high school art room equipped with only crayons and construction paper. A person's inappropriate behavior could also be considered lamentable — whether it's the cruel words of a bully or your lack of preparation for an important speech. The Latin word lamentationem is at the root of lamentable, and it means "wailing, moaning, or weeping." If a situation is bad enough to make you cry, it's lamentable.
Vocabulary lists containing lamentable
"Letter from Birmingham Jail" by Martin Luther King, Jr. (1963)
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Romeo and Juliet
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A Midsummer Night's Dream
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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.
"Local police and Spain's Civil Guard have begun investigating to try to clear up this lamentable event, in which everything points towards a robbery," read the post.
From Barron's • Jan. 20, 2026
It was a Rangers performance so lamentable it had fans leaving Ibrox before half-time - and questions being asked of Russell Martin's future at full-time.
From BBC • Aug. 20, 2025
“It’s a lamentable act that has to be investigated and punished,” Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum told reporters Thursday at her morning news conference.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 3, 2024
There have been moments when a president’s allergy to escalation has been salutary—and other moments when it has been lamentable.
From Slate • Jun. 5, 2024
And no one’s stopping, and she’s lying there on her back, a bulky fifty-odd woman in a poor-person green coat, gabardine, and lamentable shoes all cracked, her arms outflung.
From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood
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.
