as in lament
a composition expressing one's grief over a loss the composer's cello concerto was composed as a moving threnody for his late wife

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Examples 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 threnody His diary shrank to a litany of suffering and a threnody for what might have been. Sara Wheeler, WSJ, 25 Oct. 2018 Most critics acknowledged the score’s beautiful moments, especially Cleopatra’s death scene, in which the character’s plaintive lyrical lines are capped by a chilling choral threnody. Anthony Tommasini, New York Times, 22 Dec. 2017 Needless to say, Murray’s threnody for Europe is as fundamentally incoherent as its late-19th-century originals. Pankaj Mishra, New York Times, 14 Sep. 2017 Threnody in X (FTF), Soda Pop (FTF), Corn Hives (FTF), Facts (FTF), Sophie Brown, WIRED, 9 Aug. 2011
Recent Examples of Synonyms for threnody
Noun
  • This is a weaker attempt to crossbreed the classic Universal monsters with contemporary anxieties: a post-pandemic lockdown lament about the impossibility of protecting children from fear.
    Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times, 15 Jan. 2025
  • Much to the lament of American enthusiasts, Mercedes ceased production of the E 63 S wagon last year, which has helped to keep values high.
    Christian Gilbertsen, Robb Report, 8 Jan. 2025
Noun
  • Tell, yell, hell, hello, elegy, tottle, otology, geology, theology.
    John McPhee, The New Yorker, 13 Jan. 2025
  • Worm’s visualization of his collection, then, is an unwitting elegy of species pushed to the brink of existence by human pressures.
    The Editors, JSTOR Daily, 8 Jan. 2025
Noun
  • Ethel Cain: Perverts [Daughters of Cain] Ethel Cain found unlikely pop fandom with Preacher’s Daughter, her 2022 debut album, thanks to its emotional dirges and heavy lyrics.
    Nina Corcoran, Pitchfork, 10 Jan. 2025
  • The hand drums, played here by Keith, make this one spooky dirge.
    Angie Martoccio, Rolling Stone, 19 July 2024
Noun
  • Column Plug Two Rollie Pemberton A requiem for Trugoy and a rebirth for De La Soul.
    Max Ufberg, hazlitt.net, 10 Jan. 2025
  • No dolphin will ever perform an autopsy, no dingo will read Heidegger, no macaque will write a requiem for piano and violin.
    Kathryn Schulz, The New Yorker, 28 Oct. 2024

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Cite this Entry

“Threnody.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/threnody. Accessed 20 Jan. 2025.

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