as in mournful
expressing or suggesting mourning
the puppy's plaintive expression after we put the toy away was rather amusing
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Recent Examples of plaintive
Zelenskyy made a plaintive statement about the state of play.
—
Democrat-Gazette Staff From Wire Reports, arkansasonline.com, 15 Feb. 2025
Breathless had started as a somewhat conventional project that Godard turned into an irreverent formal free-for-all; the noirish, plaintive Le petit soldat had enough genre elements to mistake it for something more traditional.
—Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 7 Feb. 2025
People swarmed in every direction: babies, the elderly, plaintive children negotiating dog acquisitions with their parents.
—Chloe Malle, Vogue, 28 Jan. 2025
The film is a lolling, ruminating afternoon bathed in sunlight and plaintive reflection as Peter vividly recalls interactions with names that will be familiar to you, like Susan Sontag, and other intellectuals and creators of the period.
—Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 27 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for plaintive
Democrat-Gazette Staff From Wire Reports, arkansasonline.com, 15 Feb. 2025
Breathless had started as a somewhat conventional project that Godard turned into an irreverent formal free-for-all; the noirish, plaintive Le petit soldat had enough genre elements to mistake it for something more traditional.
—Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 7 Feb. 2025
People swarmed in every direction: babies, the elderly, plaintive children negotiating dog acquisitions with their parents.
—Chloe Malle, Vogue, 28 Jan. 2025
The film is a lolling, ruminating afternoon bathed in sunlight and plaintive reflection as Peter vividly recalls interactions with names that will be familiar to you, like Susan Sontag, and other intellectuals and creators of the period.
—Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 27 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for plaintive
Recent Examples of Synonyms for plaintive
Adjective
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The mournful footnote to Hollywood or Bust is that off-set, the friendship between Martin and Lewis had already broken down irrevocably.—
Stephanie Zacharek,
TIME,
19 Mar. 2025
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Definitely — but there’s a mournful resonance to that in a play where characters reach out so desperately and remain so trapped within themselves.—
Sara Holdren,
Vulture,
18 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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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
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The show manages to stay on the brink — always laughing, never quite weeping — for its entire length.—
Helen Shaw,
Vulture,
8 Dec. 2021
Adjective
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The funeral mass for Azcona will be held Friday at 10:30am at the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Newark.—
Brian Niemietz,
New York Daily News,
12 Mar. 2025
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On Wednesday, Israelis lined the streets to watch the funeral procession for Bibas and her two young sons, Kfir and Ariel, who were nine-months-old and 4 years old respectively when they were taken hostage with their mother, and whose bodies were also returned and identified last week.—
Hadeel Al-Shalchi,
NPR,
27 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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In the original visual, the Grammy winner plays a heartbroken character named Peaches who has all traces of her ex wiped from her hippocampus, an homage to Michel Gondry’s 2004 film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.—
Hannah Dailey,
Billboard,
26 Mar. 2025
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Seven Oaks parents ‘heartbroken’ Five Seven Oaks parents reached out to the Statesman to express disappointment with the removal of the bulletin board.—
Rose Evans,
Idaho Statesman,
25 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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Some instant coffee is made with Robusta beans, which can be a bit bitter.—
Alexandra Emanuelli,
Southern Living,
23 Mar. 2025
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To add to Ferrari’s woes, Hamilton was also disqualified from sixth as the rear skid block on his car failed to meet the minimum thickness requirement – a bitter pill to swallow for the Brit who had secured his first victory for the team in the sprint earlier in the weekend.—
Yara Elshebiny,
Forbes,
23 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Plaintive.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/plaintive. Accessed 5 Apr. 2025.
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