lamentation

noun lam·en·ta·tion \ ˌla-mən-ˈtā-shən \

Updated on: 26 Apr 2018

Definition of lamentation

: an expression of sorrow, mourning, or regret : an act or instance of lamenting

a song of lamentation

… blending a lamentation over the effects of time with a kind of apologia for it.
—Glen R. Brown

See lamentation defined for English-language learners

Examples of lamentation in a Sentence

bitter lamentations for the dead
words spoken in lamentation for the dead

Recent Examples of lamentation from the Web

The talk that followed—some lamentation, some j’accuse, many grim warnings, not much humor—was a succession of testimonies against Silicon Valley, along with some acknowledgement that quitting its world-changing products is almost impossible.

— alexander nazaryan, Newsweek, "Is Silicon Valley Silencing Conservatives on Social Media?," 15 Mar. 2018
However, speaking in the aftermath of the loss on BT Sport, Scholes stuck the boot into Mourinho over his tired lamentation and explained why United should be giving teams like Sevilla a much harder time.

— SI.com, "Man Utd Legend Slams Mourinho Post-Match Comments As Inquest into UCL Failure Rumbles on," 14 Mar. 2018
Early on Shaw’s enunciation lacked crispness, and grimaces plus gestures did not make up for the lamentation that was more in the words than the tone quality of the voice.

— alan artner, chicagotribune.com, "Haymarket Opera performs rare Rossi Passion oratorio," 9 Mar. 2018
In the scrap for lamentation, everyone wants to be top dog.

— jane mayer, The New Yorker, "“The Death of Stalin” Dares to Make Evil Funny," 6 Mar. 2018
Some snapped photos of the path and its canopy of trees to share as lamentations on social media.

— Washington Post, "Closure of trail for Purple Line sparks anger and nostalgia," 5 Sep. 2017
Court and Spark is an album filled with true musicianship, and enough funk sensibility to knock Mitchell’s whistling lamentations into songs.

— josephine livingstone, New Republic, "Both Sides of Joni Mitchell," 19 Oct. 2017
His rough training camp threatened to send his confidence sinking again, his lamentations over his poor play becoming a daily ritual throughout late July and August.

— mike sielski, Philly.com, "Patrick Robinson had been a great find for Eagles, now that he's found his confidence | Mike Sielski," 17 Oct. 2017
Some people react to the tweets with warnings or lamentations that the world is regressing to early 20th-century ideologies.

— marina koren, The Atlantic, "The Man Who Live-Tweets World War II," 29 Sep. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'lamentation.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.