1
as in mournful
expressing or suggesting mourning
a plangent, haunting song about a long-ago love
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in loud
marked by a high volume of sound
plangent organ music filled the church
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in ringing
marked by conspicuously full and rich sounds or tones
the strong, plangent tones of a Louis Armstrong trumpet solo
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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Recent Examples of plangent
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.
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Charles McGrath, The Atlantic, 8 Oct. 2024
The Tokyo composer and guitarist riffs on themes of real and imagined memories and the passage of time in plangent compositions replete with airy tones, childlike melodies, and molasses-thick smears of resonant harmony.
—Hattie Lindert, Pitchfork, 6 Oct. 2023
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
The piercing sense of place that Samuel D. Hunter brings to his work, the majority of it set in his home state of Idaho, has perhaps never been accompanied by such plangent notes of sorrow as in his new play, Greater Clements.
—David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 10 Dec. 2019
Image The pool party is a squirmy tour de force embellished with a punctuating zoom and a plangent sense of dread that make Kayla’s isolation feel like alienation.
—Bo Burnham, New York Times, 11 July 2018
Though a handful of tracks feature plangent cello by Katinka Kleijn (a member of the CSO and ICE), who shades the chord changes and enriches the interplay, most of the album is just two guitars ringing out with relaxed, natural beauty.
—Peter Margasak, Chicago Reader, 12 Oct. 2017
Charles McGrath, The Atlantic, 8 Oct. 2024
The Tokyo composer and guitarist riffs on themes of real and imagined memories and the passage of time in plangent compositions replete with airy tones, childlike melodies, and molasses-thick smears of resonant harmony.
—Hattie Lindert, Pitchfork, 6 Oct. 2023
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
The piercing sense of place that Samuel D. Hunter brings to his work, the majority of it set in his home state of Idaho, has perhaps never been accompanied by such plangent notes of sorrow as in his new play, Greater Clements.
—David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 10 Dec. 2019
Image The pool party is a squirmy tour de force embellished with a punctuating zoom and a plangent sense of dread that make Kayla’s isolation feel like alienation.
—Bo Burnham, New York Times, 11 July 2018
Though a handful of tracks feature plangent cello by Katinka Kleijn (a member of the CSO and ICE), who shades the chord changes and enriches the interplay, most of the album is just two guitars ringing out with relaxed, natural beauty.
—Peter Margasak, Chicago Reader, 12 Oct. 2017
Recent Examples of Synonyms for plangent
Adjective
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So, why not head next door — in a friendly way, not a mournful one — and express your natural curiosity?Philip Galanes, New York Times, 1 Jan. 2025
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Her observations as a woman once romantically involved with the two of them at the same time, confirm their masculine inability to speak their feelings out loud unless they are veiled in mournful songs.Carlos Aguilar, Variety, 28 Nov. 2024
Adjective
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There’s nothing worse than getting out into the wilderness, away from society, and then hearing somebody one campsite over start up a loud, smelly gas generator.Boone Ashworth, WIRED, 6 Jan. 2025
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Viewers were able to see the smaller canine, the puppy, target the nonchalant golden retriever with a few loud barks, before the Saint Bernard arrived to interrupt the unwanted interaction.Kevin Lynn, Newsweek, 6 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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But with a will Strike all your harps and set them ringing; On hill and heath Let every breath Throw all its power into singing!Vinson Cunningham, The New Yorker, 25 Dec. 2024
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His ringing, carefree laugh mixed with soaring rhetoric about democracy, working families and hope.Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 7 Aug. 2024
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 genteel tranquility of his $10 million estate is shattered by the deafening scream of jet traffic with the regularity of commercial airline schedules.Miami Herald Archives, Miami Herald, 8 Jan. 2025
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Zoom out: While these protests may be vociferous, there's an equally deafening volume of grievances the SEC sees.Hope King, Axios, 28 Oct. 2024
Adjective
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By midnight, the wolf moon should glow bright and round overhead before disappearing at sunrise into the western horizon.Eric Lagatta, USA TODAY, 11 Jan. 2025
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In other first round playoff games, the Houston Texans play host to the surging Los Angeles Chargers on Saturday and the Denver Broncos will visit the Buffalo Bills on Sunday afternoon in the final AFC game.Jack Magruder, Forbes, 10 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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Carter’s casket will depart the U.S. Capitol at 9 a.m. and a funeral motorcade will travel to the Washington National Cathedral.Molly Bohannon, Forbes, 9 Jan. 2025
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On this day, in an Assad-free Damascus, he is mourned loudly by hundreds in a funeral procession that starts at the hospital where he was identified and ends at his final resting place.Claire Harbage, NPR, 17 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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Alecia lets out a shrill whistle and the shadowy figures of our campmates stand up around the fire, applauding.Hazlitt, Hazlitt, 13 Nov. 2024
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Like, watched it all the way through from the shrill opening filled with obnoxious kids to the leadenly staged slapstick climax?Keith Phipps, Vulture, 5 Dec. 2024
Thesaurus Entries Near plangent
Cite this Entry
“Plangent.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/plangent. Accessed 20 Jan. 2025.
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