plaintiveness

noun

as in melancholy

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Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for plaintiveness
  1. melancholy
  2. mournfulness
  3. dejection
  4. sorrow
  5. gloom
Noun
  • Beneath all the sensuality and beauty, there’s also a lingering melancholy that feels very familiar to me.
    — Erik Pedersen, Oc Register, 16 June 2026
  • Don Hertzfeldt occasionally comes to mind for a similarly pervasive mood of questioning, philosophical melancholy.
    — Jessica Kiang, Variety, 12 June 2026
Definition of melancholy
Noun
  • Power Ballad should be breezy and fun, with that twist of mournfulness that Carney is always so adept at pulling off.
    — Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 29 May 2026
Definition of mournfulness
Noun
  • This has been one of Norway’s great months and reaching the end of the line was as much cause for pride as dejection across the capital.
    — Philip Buckingham, New York Times, 12 July 2026
  • Four years later, there’s not a hint of complacency or dejection in France.
    — Rohan Nadkarni, NBC news, 4 July 2026
Definition of dejection
Noun
  • The clouds begin to part The clouds of grief and sorrow that had enveloped Gounder with the approach of the World Cup were dispersed by the bright orange sun of a New York Knicks championship, the team’s first in 53 years.
    — PJ Green, Kansas City Star, 8 July 2026
  • From shabby apartments to art experiments to filthy needles—with echoes of Patti Smith and Rebecca Makkai—Adler conjures an era of sorrow borne by too many, too young.
    — Hamilton Cain, Time, 7 July 2026
Definition of sorrow
Noun
  • The broader mood tracks right alongside, with 40% expecting AI to be bad for society over the next twenty years against 16% who expect good, the gloom running deepest among adults under 30, and 63% saying the whole thing is moving too fast.
    — Alexander Puutio, Forbes.com, 26 June 2026
  • The partying turned to gloom after the temblors.
    — Mery Mogollón, Los Angeles Times, 25 June 2026
Definition of gloom
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.

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Cite this Entry

“Plaintiveness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/plaintiveness. Accessed 19 Jul. 2026.

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