Synonyms of plangent

plangent

adjective

ˈplan-jənt 

1

as in mournful

expressing or suggesting mourning

a plangent, haunting song about a long-ago love

Synonyms & Similar Words

• mournful
• weeping
• funeral
• heartbroken
• bitter
• plaintive
• wailing
• grieving
• melancholy
• anguished
• doleful
• dolorous
• lugubrious
• sorrowful
• aching
• sad
• tearful
• rueful
• lamentable
• agonized
• somber
• regretful
• sorry
• unhappy
• woeful
• funereal
• crying
• depressed
• elegiac
• bleak
• dark
• morbid
• bewailing
• deploring
• keening
• dolesome
• bemoaning
• pathetic
• disconsolate
• moody
• downcast
• woebegone
• careworn
• despondent
• darkening
• dejected
• forlorn
• dispirited
• inconsolable
• heartsick
• miserable
• glum
• gloomy
• desolate
• crestfallen
• piteous
• groaning
• bleeding
• morose
• moaning
• gray
• howling
• sullen
• black
• brokenhearted
• saturnine
• dirgelike
• downhearted
• cheerless
• low
• heartsore
• pessimistic
• low-spirited
• suffering
• joyless
• wretched
• dismal
• triste
• dreary
• comfortless
• bawling
• yammering

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• triumphant
• joyful
• happy
• cheerful
• bright
• cheery
• delighted
• smiling
• joyous
• buoyant
• laughing
• merry
• blithe
• jolly
• exulting
• blissful
• mirthful
• rejoicing
• optimistic
• lighthearted
• hopeful
• glorying
• encouraging
• rapturous
• rhapsodic
• heady
• cheering
• ecstatic
• euphoric
• blithesome
• jocund
• giddy
• exhilarated
• elated

2

as in loud

marked by a high volume of sound

plangent organ music filled the church

Synonyms & Similar Words

• loud
• deafening
• ringing
• shrill
• sonorous
• thunderous
• stentorian
• roaring
• thundering
• piercing
• clamorous
• clangorous
• booming
• earsplitting
• noisy
• blaring
• resounding
• blasting
• raucous
• vociferous
• brazen
• slam-bang
• strident
• discordant
• obstreperous
• harsh
• rip-roaring
• grating
• overloud
• squealing
• sharp
• dinning

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• gentle
• soft
• low
• silent
• quiet
• dead
• still
• serene
• dreamy
• soothing
• calm
• tranquil
• peaceful
• restful
• muffled
• muted
• hushed
• stilly
• ultraquiet
• softened
• toned (down)

3

as in ringing

marked by conspicuously full and rich sounds or tones

the strong, plangent tones of a Louis Armstrong trumpet solo

Synonyms & Similar Words

• ringing
• round
• resonant
• vibrant
• sonorous
• reverberant
• loud
• mellow
• powerful
• rotund
• deep
• golden
• reverberating
• orotund
• resounding
• mellifluous
• rich
• reverberative
• stentorian
• thunderous
• plummy
• mellifluent
• full
• thundering

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• hollow
• cavernous
• soft
• low
• faint
• weak
• muted
• thin
• murmurous
• smothered
• tinny

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of plangent

Musically, the song is indistinguishable from most modern country — a plangent guitar melody leading the way, followed by the sinister percussive drop of a trap beat. — Jon Caramanica, New York Times, 21 May 2025

The composer Ralph Vaughan Williams, that warhorse of English traditionalism, is mentioned six times, and his plangent music—invoking a lost, idyllic England; a greener, more pleasant land—could easily be the novel’s soundtrack. — Charles McGrath, The Atlantic, 8 Oct. 2024

Indeed the music, with its banging, techno-style beats looped against plangent piano, analogizes Jamal’s predicament rather perfectly. — Jessica Kiang, Variety, 25 Mar. 2023

That deft level of craft is maintained throughout, while the aching musical bed by contemporary composer Nico Muhly adds just the right tone of plangent despair tinged with hope. — Leslie Felperin, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Sep. 2019

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