mourning

noun

mourn·​ing ˈmȯr-niŋ 

1

: the act of sorrowing

She is still in mourning for her dead husband.

2

a

: an outward sign (such as black clothes or an armband) of grief for a person's death

lots of people there, and only one man in full mourning

—Arnold Bennett

b

: a period of time during which signs of grief are shown

after a long mourning, resume their ordinary dresses

—Henry Reed

Examples of mourning in a Sentence

a day of national mourning

She is still in mourning for her dead husband.

The whole town was in mourning.

a period of deep mourning

His widow was dressed in mourning.

Recent Examples on the Web

Both Black Sabbath’s and Osbourne’s solo catalogs gained considerably in consumption as sales and streams exploded when millions were in mourning. —Hugh McIntyre, Forbes.com, 6 Sep. 2025

Her death was met with widespread public mourning in the United Kingdom and worldwide. —Kelsie Gibson, PEOPLE, 6 Sep. 2025

Combined with a lack of in-person social supports, widespread unemployment, collective mourning, and other disruptions to people’s mental health, these changes to our baseline feeling of trust disrupted our mental and emotional lives. —Livia Gershon, JSTOR Daily, 5 Sep. 2025

What follows for the royal family is now a period of royal mourning, which is set to stretch until her funeral. —Lizzie Lanuza, StyleCaster, 5 Sep. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing mourning

• go into mourning
• mourning cloak
• mourning dove

Rhymes for mourning

• corning
• horning
• morning
• scorning
• warning
• adorning
• forewarning
• midmorning

Kids Definition

mourning

noun

mourn·​ing ˈmōr-niŋ 

ˈmȯr-

1

: the act of grieving

2

: an outward sign (as black clothes or a black arm band) of grief for a person's death

to wear mourning

3

: a period of time during which signs of grief are shown