plangent
Americanadjective
adjective
-
having a loud deep sound
-
resonant and mournful in sound
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of plangent
1815–25; < Latin plangent- (stem of plangēns ), present participle of plangere to beat, lament. See plain 2, -ent
Explanation
Any sound described as plangent echoes in a loud and often mournful way. There may be certain sad songs with plangent choruses that make you cry every time you hear them. The haunting peal of a church bell is plangent, and a poet's plangent, resonant tones when she reads her latest work might send chills down your spine. The adjective plangent isn't one you hear very often (it appears most frequently in a literary context), but it's good for capturing a specific sound that evokes an emotional response. Plangent originally meant "beating with a loud sound," from the Latin plangere, "to strike or beat."
Vocabulary lists containing plangent
The Inquisitor's Tale
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Stardust
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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.
Tens of thousands of these birds, with their 6-foot wingspans, take off and head south for the winter, their plangent trumpeting drowning out all other sounds.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 29, 2026
As the Choreographer, Megan Moore’s plangent mezzo was especially effective in her mourning aria; soprano Whitney Morrison was dramatic as the Performance Artist, the only member of the creative quintet who sees what is coming.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 22, 2025
He plays subtext beautifully in “Spiderhead,” with plangent notes of regret.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 16, 2022
He had a penchant for lightly plangent country, and lived in the long shadow of what was once called alternative rock.
From New York Times ● Jun. 7, 2022
As the forest’s warning became louder, more plangent and strident, William’s buoyant mood shivered, quailed, and fled like a routed army from the field.
From "The Inquisitor's Tale" by Adam Gidwitz
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.
