plaintive

[pleyn-tiv]

adjective

1. expressing sorrow or melancholy; mournful.

   a plaintive melody.

   Synonyms: sad, sorrowful, wistful
   Antonyms: joyful, happy

plaintive

/ ˈpleɪntɪv /

adjective

1. expressing melancholy; mournful

Other Word Forms

• plaintively adverb
• plaintiveness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of plaintive¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; plaint + -ive; replacing Middle English plaintif, from Middle French

Word History and Origins

Origin of plaintive¹

C14: from Old French plaintif grieving, from plainte _plaint

Example Sentences

Tom Petty vowing not to back down sounds plaintive and aspirational.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

This pageant of puppetry includes a flutter of butterflies, a goat with a plaintive bleat, a menagerie of wild animals and, at one point, a school of glowing fish.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The English horn issued a plaintive, simple melody, as if trying to evoke older memories of a nearly forgotten time.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Even though the film was shot in France, not Mexico, it has some authentic touches: The movie opens with the plaintive, recorded appeals of a young girl soliciting old appliances and other scrap metal.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The resulting lush and exotic soundscape, featuring plaintive pan flute and sprinkled with birdsong, turned out to be perfect for the game’s spooktastic forest levels.

Read more on New York Times

Related Words

• grief-stricken 
• heartrending 
• melancholy 
• mournful 
• sad 
• sorrowful 
• wistful