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plaintive
Use
Plaintive
in a sentence
plain·tive
/
ˈpleɪn
tɪv
/
Show Spelled
[
pleyn
-tiv
]
Show IPA
adjective
expressing sorrow or
melancholy
; mournful:
a plaintive melody.
Origin:
1350–1400;
plaint
+
-ive
; replacing
Middle English
plaintif
<
Middle French
Related forms
plain·tive·ly,
adverb
plain·tive·ness,
noun
Can be confused:
plaintiff
,
plaintive.
Synonyms
wistful, sorrowful, sad.
Antonyms
happy, joyful.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source
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plaintive
Collins
World English Dictionary
plaintive
(ˈpleɪntɪv)
—
adj
expressing melancholy; mournful
[C14: from Old French
plaintif
grieving, from
plainte
plaint
]
'plaintively
—
adv
'plaintiveness
—
n
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Relevant Questions
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What Is A Plaintiveness?
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00:10
Plaintive
is always a great word to know.
So is
bezoar
. Does it mean:
So is
ninnyhammer
. Does it mean:
So is
lollapalooza
. Does it mean:
a calculus or concretion found in the stomach or intestines of certain animals, esp. ruminants, formerly reputed to be an effective remedy for poison.
an extraordinary or unusual thing, person, or event; an exceptional example or instance.
an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle.
a fool or simpleton; ninny.
a gadget; dingus; thingumbob.
an extraordinary or unusual thing, person, or event; an exceptional example or instance.
LEARN MORE UNUSUAL WORDS WITH WORD DYNAMO...
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
plaintive
late 14c., "lamenting," from O.Fr. plaintif "complaining," from pleint (see
plaint
). Sense of "mournful, sad" first recorded 1570s. Related: Plaintively.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Example sentences
The online posts appear earnest, but not
plaintive
.
Despite the limited audio technology of the recording, the
plaintive
message is
timeless.
Its
plaintive
cries were recorded, and can be heard by those dialing a special
toll number.
Paper after paper begins with a trumpet fanfare and ends with a
plaintive
bleat.
Modern poetry can be
plaintive
or richly idiomatic, or both.
Plaintive
elderly people are shown consoling each other in one frame, then by a hospital bedside in another.
That's too bad, because despite her
plaintive
plea, she ought to be judged.
Onstage she's ever forthright: raunchy or
plaintive
, insolent or exalted, underlining her tone with well-timed gestures.
Much of this music was melodically
plaintive
.
There is, if one has ears to hear, something
plaintive
and pleading about that statement.
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Synonyms
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Synonym Game
piteous
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