lamenting

American  

[luh-men-ting] / ləˈmɛn tɪŋ /

adjective

1. speaking of something with sorrow, regret, or disappointment; evoking feelings of this kind.

   After the controlled mayhem of their first number, the band went into a laid-back groove with a lamenting melody on the sax.

   As sure as the season changes, we are once again hearing the lamenting call of British Columbia's most vocal crusader against salmon farming.

2. mourning or grieving over something, especially death or profound loss or suffering.

   In some countries, people follow the custom of leading a procession with the decorated body of the dead, for the benefit of the lamenting relatives.

---

noun

1. the act of grieving or of expressing regret or disappointment.

   Complain and point the finger all you want, but this is not a problem that lamenting will solve.

Other Word Forms

• lamentingly
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of lamenting

First recorded in 1510–20; lament ( def. ) + -ing ² ( def. ) for the adjective senses; lament ( def. ) + -ing ¹ ( def. ) for the noun sense

Example Sentences

She called herself “kinda done with politics,” lamenting that there was “so much division” in the country.

From Slate • May 6, 2026

Internet threads attracted hundreds of comments lamenting “foggageddon.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 29, 2026

Kish wrote in an Instagram post lamenting about the general struggle of eating and cooking while on the show.

From Salon • Feb. 28, 2026

We see Shahverdi give a speech to a hall of women, lamenting how girls as young as 11 are married and giving birth.

From BBC • Feb. 20, 2026

American Correctional Association President Gwendolyn Chunn put the matter more bluntly that same year when lamenting that the unprecedented prison expansion boom of the 1990s seemed to be leveling off.

From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander