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.

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

In 1988 “Fast Car” plaintively voiced one woman’s lament at being unable to break the cycle of poverty, while speaking to widespread disillusionment at watching the so-called American dream slip away.

From Salon • Feb. 7, 2024

"When are they going to fight?" he asked plaintively.

From "A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin