mourn

American  

[mawrn, mohrn] / mɔrn, moʊrn /

verb (used without object)

• mourns,
  present (3rd person singular)
• mourned,
  past participle,  past
• mourning
  present participle

1. to feel or express sorrow or grief.

   Synonyms:

   bemoan, bewail

   Antonyms:

   rejoice, laugh

2. to grieve or lament for the dead.

3. to show the conventional or usual signs of sorrow over a person's death.

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verb (used with object)

• mourns,
  present (3rd person singular)
• mourned,
  past participle,  past
• mourning
  present participle

1. to feel or express sorrow or grief over (misfortune, loss, or anything regretted); deplore.

2. to grieve or lament over (the dead).

3. to utter in a sorrowful manner.

mourn British  

/ mɔːn /

verb

1. to feel or express sadness for the death or loss of (someone or something)

2. (intr) to observe the customs of mourning, as by wearing black

3. (tr) to grieve over (loss or misfortune)

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Synonym Usage

See grieve.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• overmourn
  verb
• unmourned
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• mourning
  present
• mourned
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• mourn
  simple
• mourns
  simple
• have mourned
  perfect
• has mourned
  perfect
• am mourning
  progressive
• are mourning
  progressive
• is mourning
  progressive
• have been mourning
  perfect progressive
• has been mourning
  perfect progressive

Past

• mourned
  simple
• had mourned
  perfect
• was mourning
  progressive
• were mourning
  progressive
• had been mourning
  perfect progressive

Future

• will mourn
  simple
• will have mourned
  perfect
• will be mourning
  progressive
• will have been mourning
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of mourn

First recorded before 900; Middle English mo(u)rnen, Old English murnan; cognate with Old High German mornēn, Old Norse morna, Gothic maurnan

Explanation

To mourn is to grieve for someone who has died, especially a loved one. One of the hardest experiences of childhood is when you mourn the loss of a beloved pet. You can also mourn for things that you've lost, not only pets and people who have died. If your local library branch is forced to close, you might mourn its loss, missing being able to walk there from your house. The Old English root word of mourn is murnan, which means not only to mourn, but also to be anxious. Related words include "mourner" and "mournful."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

mourn mourns mourned mourning

"There is no need to mourn for me," he said.

From Barron's ● Aug. 7, 2026

"But it's essential towards them receiving closure and being able to mourn their loss in their own way."

From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026

Charles and Caroline mourn their part in that displacement; they set out for Kansas with the best of intentions, lured by false advertisements of “free” land that never was.

From Salon ● Jul. 11, 2026

“We mourn the loss of Rams Legend LeRoy Irvin,” the team wrote on social media.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 2, 2026

To mourn is not the same as to be in mourning, which means wearing a black armband and sitting in the parlor, talking to people who call on the bereaved.

From "Cold Sassy Tree" by Olive Ann Burns

“The noble art of ballyhoo, which had flourished so successfully in the nineteen-twenties, had lost something of its vigor,” he mourns.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 19, 2026

Observed on the last Monday of May each year, Memorial Day honors and mourns the military personnel who died both during wartime and times of peace.

From Barron's ● May 25, 2026

"The humanitarian family mourns a woman of conviction," Unicef in Cameroon posted on X, announcing that UN flags would be flown at half-mast in her honour.

From BBC ● Mar. 11, 2026

Her melodramatic sorrow at her stilted relationship with Alexis is palpable even as she mourns her daughter’s unwillingness to join her on a wine tasting tour in France . . . when Alexis was seven.

From Salon ● Feb. 4, 2026

“He mourns her something terrible. He is still in bed recovering. He’s weak, but he’ll survive. Thank the Lord the boys haven’t taken ill.”

From "Fever 1793" by Laurie Halse Anderson

Klitschko, a multiple-time heavyweight world champion, on Monday evening mourned the “Heroes” star and his former partner in an emotional tribute shared to Instagram.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026

Mahalia Jackson died at only 60; at her funeral Belafonte mourned her as “the single most powerful black woman in America.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described Graham as one of Israel’s strongest friends in Washington and mourned the loss of a close personal friend.

From Salon ● Jul. 12, 2026

The family of a British teenager who died in Greece has mourned a "deeply loved son".

From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026

He mourned the fact that he could not be a permanent soldier because of his wooden leg, but he could not imagine any career for his sons except the army.

From "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck

This mourning for a bygone era is a mourning for a time when Chinese families felt that if they worked hard, their lives would improve.

From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026

ZZ Top is mourning the loss of longtime drummer Frank Beard, who has died at age 77 after years of facing health-related issues.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026

For UnitedHealth, where Thompson was a widely liked, affable executive who had risen through the ranks to lead its insurance unit, the loss left colleagues mourning at the same time they felt under attack.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026

News of Jackie’s death is sending ripples of mourning through her fan base.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026

I thought about him pouring a hundred vials into the ground, one by one, mourning his partner.

From "The Marrow Thieves" by Cherie Dimaline

Related Words

• ache
• agonize
• bemoan
• complain
• cry
• deplore
• fret
• grieve
• lament
• moan
• regret
• sob
• wail
• weep
• yearn