elegiac

ele·gi·ac

adj
\ˌe-lə-ˈjī-ək, -ˌak also i-ˈlē-jē-ˌak\

Definition of ELEGIAC

1

a : of, relating to, or consisting of two dactylic hexameter lines the second of which lacks the arsis in the third and sixth feet b (1) : written in or consisting of elegiac couplets (2) : noted for having written poetry in such couplets c : of or relating to the period in Greece about the seventh century b.c. when poetry written in such couplets flourished

2

: of, relating to, or comprising elegy or an elegy; especially : expressing sorrow often for something now past <an elegiac lament for departed youth>

— elegiac noun

— el·e·gi·a·cal·ly \ˌe-lə-ˈjī-ə-k(ə-)lē\ adverb

Variants of ELEGIAC

ele·gi·ac also el·e·gi·a·cal \ˌe-lə-ˈjī-ə-kəl\

Examples of ELEGIAC

1. <the sight of an old ruined church or castle can be a pleasantly elegiac experience>

Origin of ELEGIAC

Late Latin elegiacus, from Greek elegeiakos, from elegeion

First Known Use: 1542

Related to ELEGIAC

Synonyms: black, bleak, cheerless, chill, Cimmerian, cloudy, cold, comfortless, dark, darkening, depressing, depressive, desolate, dire, disconsolate, dismal, drear, dreary, dreich [chiefly Scottish], gloomy (also elegiacal), forlorn, funereal, glum, godforsaken, gray (also grey), lonely, lonesome, lugubrious, miserable, morbid, morose, murky, plutonian, saturnine, sepulchral, solemn, somber (or sombre), sullen, sunless, tenebrific, tenebrous, wretched

Antonyms: bright, cheerful, cheering, cheery, comforting, cordial, festive, friendly, gay, heartwarming, sunshiny

Related Words: blue, dejected, depressed, despondent, disconsolate, down, droopy, hangdog, inconsolable, low, melancholic, melancholy, mirthless, sad, unhappy, woebegone, woeful; dim, discomfiting, discouraging, disheartening, dismaying, dispiriting, distressful, distressing, upsetting; desperate, hopeless, pessimistic; lamentable, mournful, plaintive, sorrowful; colorless, drab, dull; dour, grim, lowering (also louring), lowery (also loury), menacing, negative, oppressive, threatening

Near Antonyms: blithe, blithesome, buoyant, gay, jocund, jolly, joyful, joyous, merry, mirthful; encouraging, hopeful, optimistic; lighthearted, lightsome

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Other Literature Terms

apophasis, bathos, bildungsroman, bowdlerize, caesura, coda, doggerel, euphemism, poesy, prosody

Rhymes with ELEGIAC

ammoniac, amnesiac, biofeedback, celeriac, demoniac, insomniac, Monterey Jack, paranoiac, simoniac, tacamahac