mourn

verb

ˈmȯrn 

mourned; mourning; mourns

intransitive verb

1

: to feel or express grief or sorrow

When he dies, people throughout the world will mourn.

2

: to show the customary signs of grief for a death

especially : to wear mourning

mourned for thirty days in black clothes

3

: to murmur mournfully

—used especially of doves

transitive verb

1

: to feel or express grief or sorrow for

mourned the death of his son

2

: to utter mournfully

let the whirlwind mourn its requiem

—W. S. Gilbert

mourner noun

mourningly

ˈmȯr-niŋ-lē 

adverb

Synonyms

• agonize
• anguish
• bleed
• grieve
• hurt
• sorrow
• suffer

Examples of mourn in a Sentence

She is still mourning her husband, who died last year.

Thousands of people mourned his death.

She was mourned by everyone who knew her.

She mourned the loss of her youth.

He still mourns the fact that he never went to college.

Recent Examples on the Web

Advertisement Like Hamlet, Juicy is mourning the recent death of his father, Pap (Billy Eugene Jones). —Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 8 Apr. 2024

When Toby Keith died of cancer on Feb. 5 at age 62, the country world mourned the loss of one of its biggest stars. —Joe Lynch, The Hollywood Reporter, 8 Apr. 2024

Lauri Peterson is mourning the death of her son Joshua-Michael Waring. —Wesley Stenzel, EW.com, 6 Apr. 2024

José Andrés, the award-winning chef and food philanthropist, is mourning the deaths of seven aid workers from his nonprofit World Central Kitchen, who were killed in an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip on April 1. —Sunny Nagpaul, Fortune, 5 Apr. 2024

Stephen Colbert is mourning the death of one of his colleagues. —Ingrid Vasquez, Peoplemag, 4 Apr. 2024

Some of the biggest names in comedy are mourning Joe Flaherty. —Tomás Mier, Rolling Stone, 2 Apr. 2024

Jewish Federations mourn his passing, and our thoughts are with his family at this difficult time. —Melissa Gaffney, ABC News, 27 Mar. 2024

Toby Keith has only been gone for less than two months, and many fans of the late superstar are still mourning. —Hugh McIntyre, Forbes, 27 Mar. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Old English murnan; akin to Old High German mornēn to mourn, Greek mermēra care — more at memory

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1

Kids Definition

mourn

verb

ˈmō(ə)rn 

ˈmȯ(ə)rn

1

: to feel or show grief or sorrow especially over someone's death

2

: to display the customary signs of grief for a death especially by wearing mourning

mourner noun