as in wail
a crying out in grief
there was a great lamentation on Wall Street when the government's latest unemployment figures were published
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Recent Examples of lamentation
Give us your final lamentations on this year’s crop of cancellations in a comment below.
—
Dave Nemetz, TVLine, 21 May 2025
Studio Nicholas Venezia In Janáček’s Quartet No. 1, the Takács ratcheted up the genre’s conversational quality into high drama, widening the expressive gulf between the opening lamentation and the skittering response.
—Justin Davidson, Vulture, 2 May 2025
One third of the way into Katie Kitamura’s 2017 novel, A Separation, its narrator asks an elderly Greek woman to demonstrate a traditional funeral lamentation.
—Lidija Haas, Harper's Magazine, 3 Mar. 2025
Biblical-style lamentations over Israel’s final corruption have been a staple of the state’s critics and die-hard anti-Zionists for 70 years.
—Martin Kramer, Foreign Affairs, 8 June 2016
See All Example Sentences for lamentation
Dave Nemetz, TVLine, 21 May 2025
Studio Nicholas Venezia In Janáček’s Quartet No. 1, the Takács ratcheted up the genre’s conversational quality into high drama, widening the expressive gulf between the opening lamentation and the skittering response.
—Justin Davidson, Vulture, 2 May 2025
One third of the way into Katie Kitamura’s 2017 novel, A Separation, its narrator asks an elderly Greek woman to demonstrate a traditional funeral lamentation.
—Lidija Haas, Harper's Magazine, 3 Mar. 2025
Biblical-style lamentations over Israel’s final corruption have been a staple of the state’s critics and die-hard anti-Zionists for 70 years.
—Martin Kramer, Foreign Affairs, 8 June 2016
See All Example Sentences for lamentation
Recent Examples of Synonyms for lamentation
Noun
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Not with a whimper but with a siren wail that long ago converted to white noise in our collective hearing; a global tinnitus like the hum of a fridge; the quiet roar of the Greenland ice sheet slipping into the Musk Ocean.—
Reuven Perlman,
New Yorker,
15 Sep. 2025
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Her wails make Davina recall her own confinement, where she was treated similarly awfully and responded by cursing the women in the room.—
Kimberly Roots,
TVLine,
5 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Click the video below to see a sweet brotherly reunion filled with the kind of hug that comes with happy tears and pure joy.—
Ronnie Li,
USA Today,
11 Sep. 2025
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This test evaluates the quantity and quality of your tears to diagnose dry eye syndrome.—
Lindsay Curtis,
Health,
10 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Scientists speculate that this could be an expression of mourning or an instinctual effort to understand the loss.—
Adeola Adeosun,
MSNBC Newsweek,
16 Sep. 2025
-
The horrific murder of Charlie Kirk has left many in shock and mourning.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
14 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Apologies and laments and longing are woven throughout the album, but the speaker doesn’t ask anything of anyone that comes across as especially loud.—
Hanif Abdurraqib,
New Yorker,
27 Aug. 2025
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Beristain’s lament may sound like a song of the past, but eight years later, that rhythm is returning.—
Lluvia Gaucin,
IndyStar,
26 Aug. 2025
Noun
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While conservatives have periodically questioned the need to fund public media throughout its decades, Berliner's essay provided a new rallying cry.—
David Folkenflik,
NPR,
11 Sep. 2025
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The dog's cries pierced people's hearts, and as of Thursday, the TikTok video reached over 278,000 views and 40,300 likes.—
Liz O'Connell,
MSNBC Newsweek,
11 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
For there is a weeping of the whole body.—
Anne Carson,
New Yorker,
21 Aug. 2025
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But the mood in Israel hardened dramatically when, on July 31, Hamas released a video of the skeletal 21-year-old Israeli hostage Rom Braslavski, weeping and in pain.—
Emily Rose,
USA Today,
12 Aug. 2025
Noun
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The request drew audible groans and shouts from other members.—
Anna Commander,
MSNBC Newsweek,
11 Sep. 2025
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The tightly wound tension is maintained also by Volker Bertelmann’s propulsive score, which starts with ominous juddering groans and keeps shapeshifting throughout.—
David Rooney,
HollywoodReporter,
2 Sep. 2025
Noun
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The wind’s howl filled my left ear and the music blasted from my speakers filled my right.—
Manuel Muñoz,
Literary Hub,
11 Sep. 2025
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In addition to the winners, the brewery will offer consolation prizes to participants with the best costume, the slowest race time and the best howl.—
Tiney Ricciardi,
Denver Post,
11 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Lamentation.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/lamentation. Accessed 16 Sep. 2025.
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