as in mournful
expressing or suggesting mourning
dolorous ballads of death and regret
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of dolorous
The album’s pointed cover, showing a dolorous schoolboy gripping a phone while holding a basketball, hints at the weighty revelations contained therein.
—
Will Dukes, Rolling Stone, 2 Sep. 2025
Above ground, the images are reminiscent of Bela Tarr or the particularly dolorous stretches of early Tarkovsky movies, an impression accented by the strange siren-like blares, twangs and choral interludes of Tako Zhordania’s otherwordly score.
—Jessica Kiang, Variety, 8 July 2023
The nodding plume and the dolorous bell.
—James Parker, The Atlantic, 29 Sep. 2022
The next evening, a lanky youth in military fatigues mumbles something less dolorous from the same podium and Llewyn can only watch from the sidelines as the audience applauds with vigour.
—Hazlitt, 24 Aug. 2022
Things had changed just enough to incorporate this kind of hard, dolorous realism.
—Wesley Morris, New York Times, 5 Nov. 2020
His Grammy supremacy, to the exclusion of Sheeran, shows that the dolorous guitarist no longer holds intrinsic sway over the smiling showman for the awards' purposes.
—Andrew Unterberger, Billboard, 28 Nov. 2017
His Grammy supremacy, to the exclusion of Sheeran, shows that the dolorous guitarist no longer holds intrinsic sway over the smiling showman for the awards' purposes.
—Andrew Unterberger, The Hollywood Reporter, 28 Nov. 2017
Will Dukes, Rolling Stone, 2 Sep. 2025
Above ground, the images are reminiscent of Bela Tarr or the particularly dolorous stretches of early Tarkovsky movies, an impression accented by the strange siren-like blares, twangs and choral interludes of Tako Zhordania’s otherwordly score.
—Jessica Kiang, Variety, 8 July 2023
The nodding plume and the dolorous bell.
—James Parker, The Atlantic, 29 Sep. 2022
The next evening, a lanky youth in military fatigues mumbles something less dolorous from the same podium and Llewyn can only watch from the sidelines as the audience applauds with vigour.
—Hazlitt, 24 Aug. 2022
Things had changed just enough to incorporate this kind of hard, dolorous realism.
—Wesley Morris, New York Times, 5 Nov. 2020
His Grammy supremacy, to the exclusion of Sheeran, shows that the dolorous guitarist no longer holds intrinsic sway over the smiling showman for the awards' purposes.
—Andrew Unterberger, Billboard, 28 Nov. 2017
His Grammy supremacy, to the exclusion of Sheeran, shows that the dolorous guitarist no longer holds intrinsic sway over the smiling showman for the awards' purposes.
—Andrew Unterberger, The Hollywood Reporter, 28 Nov. 2017
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dolorous
Adjective
-
Walt Disney Imagineering updated the storyline of Black Widow Bride Constance Hatchway earlier this year by turning her from an axe murderer who beheads her wealthy husbands into a more mournful figure overwhelmed by the dread of lost love.—
Brady MacDonald,
Oc Register,
13 Oct. 2025
-
In this context, even a simple boast about wielding a Beretta sounded mournful.—
Kelefa Sanneh,
New Yorker,
7 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
And every day, across from them, outside the clinic, about to enter or just leaving, there were women hugging each other and weeping.—
David Mamet,
National Review,
11 Aug. 2022
-
The show manages to stay on the brink — always laughing, never quite weeping — for its entire length.—
Helen Shaw,
Vulture,
8 Dec. 2021
Adjective
-
On a recent day, a patron drank a Guinness at the bar amid walls are covered in funeral notices from people who had come for a drink after saying that final goodbye.—
Chris Kenning,
USA Today,
25 Oct. 2025
-
The family has not yet announced funeral plans, and no further details have been made public.—
Martha McHardy,
MSNBC Newsweek,
24 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
Though we were heartbroken at the goodbyes, there was a small sense of relief, knowing that fewer mouths to feed would mean a little more food for those who stayed behind.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
21 Oct. 2025
-
Cal Raleigh and Julio Rodríguez each hit a solo home run for the Mariners in the team’s first Game 7 but Seattle failed to reach its first World Series, leaving the heartbroken Mariners as the only major league team without a pennant.—
Ian Harrison,
Twin Cities,
21 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
Remove a thin piece of peel from a lemon (for rye) or orange (for bourbon), getting as little of the bitter white pith as possible; hold the peel between your fingers with the outside facing the top of the drink and pinch slightly to express the citrus oils over the top.—
Jeremy Repanich,
Robb Report,
25 Oct. 2025
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Washington State is back on home soil for the first time in more than a month, having been on the road since suffering a heavy defeat to bitter rival Washington in the Apple Cup back in September.—
Kilty Cleary,
MSNBC Newsweek,
25 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
Sitting opposite an old people’s home in a residential corner of Paris’ 14th arrondissement, La Santé’s unassuming presence is only given away by the occasional wailing siren as prisoners are transported to and from the site.—
Joseph Ataman,
CNN Money,
14 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Dolorous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dolorous. Accessed 30 Oct. 2025.
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