as in bitterly
with feelings of bitterness or grief
the man sighed plaintively as it became clear that he was getting nowhere with the officious bureaucrat
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Recent Examples of plaintively
Mia plaintively asks Philip at one particularly vulnerable moment.
—
Frank Scheck, HollywoodReporter, 3 Sep. 2019
Frank Scheck, HollywoodReporter, 3 Sep. 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for plaintively
Adverb
-
Fede knows the truth, but Roberto doesn’t, and Fede has held that over Antonio ever since, with Antonio bitterly blaming himself for his wife’s death.—
Dave Nemetz,
TVLine,
12 Oct. 2025
-
Both the city of Chicago and the state of Illinois bitterly oppose the move and have launched legal action in a bid to block it.—
James Bickerton,
MSNBC Newsweek,
8 Oct. 2025
Adverb
-
Liver surgery followed and more chemotherapy but sadly the cancer has continued to spread.—
Raechal Shewfelt,
Entertainment Weekly,
7 Oct. 2025
-
The film and book's title, as Abbott explained on Zoom ahead of the film's release, expresses their unique world—one that sadly wasn’t built to last.—
Barry Levitt,
Time,
7 Oct. 2025
Adverb
-
Even though her sacrifice feels painfully final, is Alex really gone for good?—
Allison DeGrushe,
Entertainment Weekly,
8 Oct. 2025
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For much of the season, the Mariners’ offense looked painfully thin.—
Tyler Kepner,
New York Times,
8 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Plaintively.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/plaintively. Accessed 15 Oct. 2025.
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