Definition of plangentnext
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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 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 See All Example Sentences for plangent
Recent Examples of Synonyms for plangent
Adjective
  • Tender Loving Care is a gentle, mournful, funny portrait of a family whose future is shadowed by uncertainty but tries to face life with cheeriness.
    Joe Reid, Vulture, 10 Sep. 2026
  • Part of it was the circumstances of his death and the mournful public procession through Brooklyn.
    Jeff Weiss, HollywoodReporter, 1 Sep. 2026
Adjective
  • Saphier is nominated for a position that carries limited policymaking power but serves as a loud megaphone as the nation's top communicator to Americans on public health issues.
    FATIMA HUSSEIN, Arkansas Online, 17 Sep. 2026
  • Indeed, Seider is back now, and the fallout from the loud summer looms.
    Max Bultman, New York Times, 16 Sep. 2026
Adjective
  • Michigan coach Kyle Whittingham was asked about Underwood’s security in the starting job earlier this week and hardly offered up a ringing endorsement.
    Bruce Feldman, New York Times, 11 Sep. 2026
  • Martha-Mary Chapel, Sudbury Reverend Bryce (Toby Huss) presides over the town church, where mysterious ringing bells seem to indicate something dark is afoot.
    Nicholas DeRenzo, Travel + Leisure, 25 Aug. 2026
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
Adjective
  • By the time Obsession made it to TIFF, the buzz on social media had become deafening.
    Scott Roxborough, HollywoodReporter, 11 Sep. 2026
  • Before the researchers could start sampling it, though, a deafening roar suddenly filled the tunnel.
    James Dinneen, New Yorker, 13 Aug. 2026
Adjective
  • In a crockery pot, my father steams cauliflower, stirring it round and round.
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 17 Sep. 2026
  • The original Ladybird housed the smallest round mechanical movement then produced in series, turning an exercise in extreme miniaturization into the foundation for some of the brand’s most imaginative jewelry watches.
    Taylor Stoddard, Robb Report, 17 Sep. 2026
Adjective
  • To Diana, who has taken over First Desk at the Park after last season’s events, River’s refusal to take bereavement leave gives her license to speak about his grandfather’s funeral arrangements with her usual cool formality.
    Scott Tobias, Vulture, 16 Sep. 2026
  • According to the organizer of a fundraiser set up to cover funeral costs and medical expenses, the girl's aunt suffered a broken neck, skull fracture, and dislocated discs.
    Joan Murray, CBS News, 14 Sep. 2026
Adjective
  • But about five minutes later, a sharp cracking sound momentarily replaced the shrill squeal of sirens, and the top half of the South Tower imploded, bringing the entire thing down.
    Timothy Townsend, Rolling Stone, 11 Sep. 2026
  • The shrill call of the shofar ensures no one falls asleep during lengthy Jewish High Holy Day services each year.
    Lois K. Solomon, Sun Sentinel, 27 Aug. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Plangent.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/plangent. Accessed 24 Sep. 2026.

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