plaintive
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
- plaintively adverb
- plaintiveness noun
Etymology
Origin of plaintive
First recorded in 1350–1400; plaint + -ive; replacing Middle English plaintif, from Middle French
Explanation
Plaintive is an adjective for describing someone or something with a pleading, sorrowful, desperate tone. If you have ever heard the plaintive howl of a wolf, then you know what we are getting at here. A plaint, as in complaint, is an expression of sorrow or grief. This word has also been bent a little at the ends to become plaintiff or complainant — the sufferer — in a lawsuit. So, whether you are hearing a plaintive tone in a courtroom, at a funeral, or in the wild (as in an animal's plaintive howl), you can be assured that someone or something desires something desperately.
Vocabulary lists containing plaintive
Grade 11, List 1
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Things Fall Apart
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Night
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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.
Gladiator II and Hamnet star Mescal has a huge social media fanbase and mentioned last December he was loving a song called Evelyn, a plaintive folk ballad from Michael's second album Thin White Road.
From BBC • Jan. 22, 2026
Testing the human animal’s tolerance for plaintive fiddles, wheezy bagpipes, Peter Coyote and the whispery recitations of diary entries, “The American Revolution” is the most Ken Burns-y of Ken Burns series.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 13, 2025
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.
From New York Times • Nov. 19, 2024
I remember one particularly plaintive voice on the phone: “Steven, why are you lying to me? What have I done wrong?”
From Slate • Oct. 29, 2024
It was the truth, and it came out of Jule’s chest, loud and plaintive.
From "Genuine Fraud" by E. Lockhart
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.
