1
as in mournful
expressing or suggesting mourning
a plangent, haunting song about a long-ago love
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in loud
marked by a high volume of sound
plangent organ music filled the church
Synonyms & Similar Words
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
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of plangent
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
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
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
Leslie Felperin, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Sep. 2019
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
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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This is a love story, after all, and one with a keen grasp of the mournful, curious glances between its two leads — of how much goes untranslated between them, and how much is conveyed.—
Sheri Linden,
New York Times,
27 Mar. 2025
-
In a circular frame at the center of the screen, still images and footage of the deceased played over the swelling, mournful music in a static shot anchoring the four-and-a-half-minute segment, which was capped off by a final photograph of Hackman.—
Dade Hayes,
Deadline,
2 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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The crowd welcomed him with a loud ovation and cheered him on numerous times during the match.—
Michelle Kaufman,
Miami Herald,
31 Mar. 2025
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Building strong relationships—without being the loudest in the room Introverts are rarely the most talkative people in meetings or social settings.—
Lorraine K. Lee, Contributor,
CNBC,
31 Mar. 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
-
His ringing, carefree laugh mixed with soaring rhetoric about democracy, working families and hope.—
Gustavo Arellano,
Los Angeles Times,
7 Aug. 2024
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
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But there’s no deafening scream of a Formula 1 race.—
Bill Kearney,
Sun Sentinel,
7 Mar. 2025
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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
Adjective
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His signature black-rimmed eyeglasses, huge and round, are bright yellow now.—
Dodie Kazanjian,
Vogue,
1 Apr. 2025
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We are led to the living room – also the television room – where Sayed and his wife, Zainab, demonstrate how to bake round sun bread, which rises in the sun.—
Francine Kiefer,
Christian Science Monitor,
1 Apr. 2025
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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As the evening presses forward, a shrill scream goes thundering across the third floor, and the camera pans to showcase A.B. lying dead in the game room.—
Aramide Tinubu,
Variety,
20 Mar. 2025
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There are many reasons to visit New Orleans, from po' boys filled with heaps of fried shrimp spilling out of pillowy soft French bread, the shrill trills of brass trumpets, and the constant bustle of revelers across the city.—
Kristin Braswell,
Travel + Leisure,
16 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Plangent.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/plangent. Accessed 13 Apr. 2025.
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