mournful
Americanadjective
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feeling or expressing sorrow or grief; sorrowful; sad.
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of or relating to mourning for the dead.
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causing grief or lament.
a mournful occasion.
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gloomy, somber, or dreary, as in appearance or character.
mournful shadows.
adjective
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evoking grief; sorrowful
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gloomy; sad
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of mournful
First recorded in 1375–1425, mournful is from the late Middle English word morneful. See mourn, -ful
Explanation
A mournful person is someone who is full of sorrow, like a little girl who has just lost her new puppy. Mournful is a word that is often associated with someone who has experienced the death of someone close to them. A person would feel mournful if their loved one had just died. Mournful can also describe the expression of sad feelings, like a person dressed in black and sobbing into a handkerchief. You would not be mournful if you had just failed a quiz, but you would be mournful if your twenty-year marriage had just failed.
Vocabulary lists containing mournful
List 4
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"Rikki-Tikki-Tavi" by Rudyard Kipling
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Chains
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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.
Instead of soaring uplift and ascension, it presents a mournful void.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 27, 2026
A subsequent statement from the Élysée Palace struck a more mournful note, saying that the leaders had expressed "regrets" that the industries involved hadn't been able to make it work.
From BBC • Jun. 9, 2026
Caspian “C-Bird” Hollywell’s wide-eyed, frenetic energy and howling vocals come up against the sweet, mournful steel pedal guitar of suit-and-tie-wearing “Razor” Ramon Santos.
From Salon • Jun. 5, 2026
In it, Slayyyter explores her hometown roots, family dynamics and desire at her most trashy, mournful, hungry and loud; as the “Worst Girl in America,” Slayyyter is raw.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 25, 2026
The mournful wind moved like a shadow down the street, swirling in its path chalky dust and tumbleweeds.
From "Bless Me, Ultima" by Rudolfo Anaya
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.
