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lamentable

[luh-men-tuh-buh l, lam-uh n-tuh-]
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adjective
  1. that is to be lamented; regrettable; unfortunate: a lamentable decision.
  2. Rare. mournful.
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Origin of lamentable

1400–50; late Middle English < Latin lāmentābilis, equivalent to lāmentā(rī) (see lament) + -bilis -ble
Related formsla·men·ta·ble·ness, nounla·men·ta·bly, adverbun·lam·en·ta·ble, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for lamentably

Historical Examples

  • The minister was weakening most lamentably, giving her husband a loophole to escape.

    Thoroughbreds

    W. A. Fraser

  • It was lamentably weak, far from the hot expressions which she forced it to replace.

    Mistress Wilding

    Rafael Sabatini

  • If you only knew how lamentably we are off for pretty people, you 'd pity us.

    A Day's Ride

    Charles James Lever

  • "Oh, there is nothing to grieve on," said he, mistaking me most lamentably.

    John Splendid

    Neil Munro

  • Sometimes he would do excellently, and again he would "fall down" lamentably.

British Dictionary definitions for lamentably

lamentable

adjective
  1. wretched, deplorable, or distressing
  2. an archaic word for mournful
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Derived Formslamentableness, nounlamentably, adverb
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for lamentably

lamentable

adj.

c.1400, from Middle French lamentable and directly from Latin lamentabilis "full of sorrow, mournful, lamentable," from lamentari "to lament" (see lamentation). Related: Lamentably.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper