variants
also elegiacal
as in somber
causing or marked by an atmosphere lacking in cheer
the sight of an old ruined church or castle can be a pleasantly elegiac experience
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of elegiac
Kim Willis, USA Today, 27 Feb. 2026
Whether set in Jewish eastern Europe or New York’s Lower East Side, Shtok’s range is on full display, from gossipy melodramas and elegiac reveries to coming of age portraits of shtetl adolescents and immigrant hustlers.
—Literary Hub, 22 Jan. 2026
Naomi Fry, New Yorker, 21 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for elegiac
Adjective
But only one of them felt moved to memorialize the King in an elegiac poem.
—Kim Willis, USA Today, 27 Feb. 2026
Whether set in Jewish eastern Europe or New York’s Lower East Side, Shtok’s range is on full display, from gossipy melodramas and elegiac reveries to coming of age portraits of shtetl adolescents and immigrant hustlers.
—Literary Hub, 22 Jan. 2026
Noun
There’s also something a little elegiac about it.
—Naomi Fry, New Yorker, 21 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for elegiac
Recent Examples of Synonyms for elegiac
Adjective
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The band also hopes to provide a jolt of musical energy at otherwise somber protests.—
Adrian Florido,
NPR,
16 Apr. 2026
-
Picasso's grandson, Olivier Widmaier Picasso, said the painting is rendered in the artist's signature style and the grey, white and cream composition reflects the sombre mood of the era, per Reuters.—
Michelle Del Rey,
USA Today,
15 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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That’s partly because their bleak ending feels like a foregone conclusion from the start, even as Levinson’s frequently funny script crackles with comic depravity.—
Alison Foreman,
IndieWire,
10 Apr. 2026
-
While the subject matter is bleak, Almodóvar balances the darkness with a tenderness and sensitivity that comes from a career of exploring women's lives at their most intimate.—
Kevin Jacobsen,
Entertainment Weekly,
9 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
To say an elegy by heart/to zero our dying before birth.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
1 Apr. 2026
-
The show, a sort of elegy for Gen X, opens with a flash-forward to July 16, 1999, the final hours of Carolyn and John.—
Doreen St. Félix,
New Yorker,
14 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
Scenes from some of the Robert Pearson character’s old movies are done in a 1940s Hollywood style using young actors that resemble James Dean or Robert Mitchum juxtaposed with the stark, solemn, isolated existence of the elderly Pearson.—
Christopher Arnott,
Hartford Courant,
9 Apr. 2026
-
Although the pope celebrates mass regularly on Sundays, feast days, and many other occasions, the Urbi et Orbi blessing is much rarer, reserved for solemn events in the church’s liturgical calendar.—
Leo XIV,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
5 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Levi's taps into her consumer brand expertise from her days at Starbucks, compared to Kohl's retail focus; of course, that retail experience is now also serving Gass well as Levi's opens more of its own stores.—
Emma Hinchliffe,
Fortune,
9 Apr. 2026
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Return your right hand to the floor and repeat on the other side (this time, left hand taps right shoulder).—
Jakob Roze,
Health,
1 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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Take 25 Hours, in Long Island City, for example, which is freighted with a depressing ambience that is equal parts chemistry lab and subterranean grotto.—
Vince Aletti,
New Yorker,
17 Apr. 2026
-
Dede Ayite’s costume design nails each character, from Catherine’s slouchy, depressing sweats-and-flannels to Claire’s chic, New York casual-glam.—
Greg Evans,
Deadline,
16 Apr. 2026
Noun
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The organ that colored all the earlier tales of youthful exuberance now plays a funeral dirge.—
David Glickman,
Pitchfork,
27 Mar. 2026
-
Swedish singer-composer Anna von Hausswolff, whose cathedral melodies, intense vocals and doom-laden dirges share much in common with Nordic heavy-metal culture, specializes in mystery and grandiosity.—
Bob Gendron,
Chicago Tribune,
9 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
Hathaway, in disheveled straight blonde hair parted down the middle to its thick dark roots, does a convincing job of showing us that Mary, while devoted to her art (and her fame — the two can’t be separated), is a mere mortal who wears her onstage persona like a cosmic costume.—
Owen Gleiberman,
Variety,
14 Apr. 2026
-
Store leftover seeds in a cool, dark place until next season.—
Midwest Living,
Midwest Living,
14 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Elegiac.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/elegiac. Accessed 20 Apr. 2026.
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