plaintive
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
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.
A “freewinstonwalters” TikTok account, which had more than 31,000 followers, regularly shared photos and videos of Walters, sometimes shirtless, often set to plaintive music.
From Slate ● Sep. 17, 2026
The plaintive cry is that young Scottish footballers get a chance to play a part in all this, that clubs trust their youth for a change.
From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2026
Next up came the second part’s “Say It’s Not You,” George Jones’s plaintive, twangy ballad about a man’s fears that his gal is being unfaithful.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026
I’ve read the many plaintive pieces written about this boring, wholly-unworthy-of-the-Great-Golden-State field of gubernatorial candidates.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 7, 2026
There was another yelp, this one constrained and plaintive.
From "Sounder" by William H. Armstrong
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
