mourn

[mawrn, mohrn]

verb (used without object)

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.

verb (used with object)

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

/ 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)

Other Word Forms

• overmourn verb
• unmourned adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of mourn¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of mourn¹

Old English murnan; compare Old High German mornēn to be troubled, Gothic maurnan to grieve, Greek mermeros worried

Synonym Study

See grieve.

Example Sentences

A generation of “Dazed and Confused” fans is mourning the potential loss of a landmark—one of the vanishing symbols of Old Austin.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

You embrace the sadness, you embrace the loss, and you mourn together with this community.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

I remember mourning Grandma’s passing, wallowing in my sadness, only to come to Asamando and meet Ama—and to have her claim to be Grandma.

Read more on Literature

The Widow Ashton wore yet another gloomy yet fashionable head covering from her extensive wardrobe of mourning caps; the veil covered her face so that her reaction could not be seen.

Read more on Literature

Not surprisingly, this melancholy picture celebrates and mourns Langhe, a region imperiled by global warming and encroaching industrialization that threaten the once-fecund practice of truffle gathering.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

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