lamented
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of lamented
Explanation
Use the adjective lamented to talk fondly about someone who's died. You might describe your favorite elementary school teacher as "my dear lamented Mrs. McGinty." Lamented is often used in the phrase "late lamented," which implies that the person you're talking about is dead and that you really miss him or her. Inanimate objects can also be lamented, like the neighborhood book shop that closed, or a magazine you used to read that is no longer in print. The root Latin word is lamentationem, which describes wailing, moaning, and weeping.
Vocabulary lists containing lamented
Much Ado About Nothing
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Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
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This Week In Culture: May 31–June 5, 2020
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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.
Monteiro lamented that news of such gun battles would hurt tourism.
From Barron's • Apr. 20, 2026
But he lamented that he wasn’t shooting to his standard.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 19, 2026
Another lamented that they cry at the end of every dino doc, even though they know the asteroid is coming and extinction is on the horizon.
From Salon • Apr. 12, 2026
In a speech to diplomats in January, the American pontiff lamented that “war is back in vogue.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 10, 2026
“Some of our colleagues seem to have gone seriously wrong,” lamented Thomas F. Lynch of Texas A&M in the Review of Archaeology in 2001.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
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.
