plangent

American  

[plan-juhnt] / ˈplæn dʒənt /

adjective

1. resounding loudly, especially with a plaintive sound, as a bell.

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plangent British  

/ ˈplændʒənt /

adjective

1. having a loud deep sound

2. resonant and mournful in sound

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Other Word Forms

• plangency
  noun
• plangently
  adverb

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."

Example Sentences

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

A clear highlight was “Amelia,” a plangent, airy meditation on freedom and flight.

From New York Times • Jun. 11, 2023

He plays subtext beautifully in “Spiderhead,” with plangent notes of regret.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 16, 2022

Then you have this very plangent, perpetual, constant simple question, which of course is not simple, and then the chaos grows and grows, and I thought, this is the moment we are living right now.

From Washington Post • Apr. 20, 2022

One evening, camped at the edge of a deep wood, Tristran heard something he had never heard before: a beautiful melody, plangent and strange.

From "Stardust" by Neil Gaiman