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.

These materialize in ways that lend unexpected mournfulness to some figures and, to others, a squeamishness that’ll make your skin crawl.

From Salon • Feb. 16, 2025

In a plaintive tweet that scored high on the mournfulness scale, the team said “it once was a bright, bright sunshiny day . . . ”

From Washington Post • Jul. 16, 2022

The Atlantic’s Sophie Gilbert notes that “Rhys … has a greater range with watchable mournfulness than anyone else on television.”

From Los Angeles Times • May 26, 2021

There’s a surprising amount of death in Horizon Zero Dawn, not just NPCs but friends, allies and family, and a deeper mournfulness as you piece through the wreckage of human society.

From The Verge • Dec. 14, 2020

“But that part must not have worked so well. They all still suffer from that pesky ‘chronic mournfulness effect.’”

From "The Mysterious Benedict Society" by Trenton Lee Stewart