plaintive

adjective

ˈplān-tiv How to pronounce plaintive (audio)
Definition of plaintivenext
as in mournful
expressing or suggesting mourning the puppy's plaintive expression after we put the toy away was rather amusing

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of plaintive Park’s plaintive gamer-vampire is witty, too. — Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune, 16 June 2026 The plaintive melodies are mournful yet comforting. — Michelle F. Solomon, Miami Herald, 12 May 2026 The record includes generic corn too, which even Langley’s plaintive voice can’t save. — The Week Us, TheWeek, 21 Apr. 2026 The steady, unwavering empathy of her gaze encompasses a universe of tiny, interlaced incidents in which the zany entwines the plaintive, or the tragic the comic. — Literary Hub, 19 Mar. 2026 See All Example Sentences for plaintive
Recent Examples of Synonyms for plaintive
  1. mournful
  2. weeping
  3. funeral
  4. heartbroken
  5. wailing
  6. bitter
Adjective
  • Unfortunately, the disembodied feet on my aunt’s staircase were my last spectral sighting and the mournful whistling was my last haunting.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 30 Oct. 2026
  • The One About Matthew Perry, a three-part docuseries, out October 27 on Netflix, is more of a celebration of celebrate Perry’s life instead of a mournful tribute or true crime drama about his death and the headline-making trial that followed.
    — Bethy Squires, Vulture, 25 Oct. 2026
Definition of mournful
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
Definition of weeping
Adjective
  • On Tuesday, the classic served as a funeral dirge for the roughly 800 people present who backed Hilton.
    — Andrew J. Campa, Los Angeles Times, 7 Nov. 2026
  • The funeral car draped with floral arrangements arrived slowly to the church in the town of Navahermosa in central Spain.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 5 Nov. 2026
Definition of funeral
Adjective
  • The heartbroken dad wasn’t home when the child fell out the window.
    — Colin Mixson, New York Daily News, 5 Nov. 2026
  • The death of Sir Patrick Stewart has left Hollywood heartbroken as his co-stars, colleagues, and fellow actors recall rare encounters, days on set, and priceless advice the acting legend shared with them.
    — Larisha Paul, Rolling Stone, 29 Oct. 2026
Definition of heartbroken
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
Definition of wailing
Adjective
  • The Daily Caller is clearly positioning itself for a landscape not just post-midterms but post- Trump, and for a bitter and intensifying intra-party media battle.
    — Max Tani, semafor.com, 2 Nov. 2026
  • Without that delicate balance, the character could have come off as too bitter, on one end of the spectrum, or too tragic.
    — Kristen Lopez, IndieWire, 2 Nov. 2026
Definition of bitter

Browse Nearby Words

plaintiffs
plaintive
plaintively
See all Nearby Words

Podcast

Cite this Entry

“Plaintive.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/plaintive. Accessed 10 Nov. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of defer

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

31 Useful Rhetorical Devices

More Commonly Misspelled Words

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

The Longest Long Words List

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
woman sitting on floor holding book in front of her face on pink background
Famous Novels, Last Lines Quiz Needless to say, spoiler alert.
See All