plaintive
adjective
expressing sorrow or melancholy; mournful.
plaintively
-
a word derived from
plaintive.
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.
"But there's no soul," he answered almost plaintively.
From Barron's ● Jun. 19, 2026
Ferrabosco’s surviving number, “Come Away, Come Away,” was a pleasantly simple tune, less sophisticated than John Coprario’s mourning song, “So Parted You,” in which the violins plaintively echoed the singer.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 4, 2025
Now 59, she sings plaintively about absent friends and the physical reckonings of age: “I can change the way I feel/I can make my body heal.”
From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2024
Even theatrical giant Ian McKellen, in the telling of the Guardian newspaper, asked plaintively in 2005, “I don’t have to do Lear, do I? Everybody expects me to.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 19, 2024
Dunbar asked plaintively from the floor, wincing at the vibrating pains in his temples that his voice set up.
From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller
