1
: expressing sorrow : sorrowful
2
: full of sorrow : sad
3
: causing sorrow or melancholy : gloomy
mournfulness
noun
Synonyms
Examples of mournful in a Sentence
she had such a mournful expression that someone teasingly asked if her dog had died
the mournful survivors of the disaster were faced with the grim task of burying the dead
Recent Examples on the Web
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
Very few directors working today can put across a movie like Gladiator II as convincingly, which perhaps explains why the sequel — for all its barbaric violence and the plaintive, at times stirring, discussions about justice and democracy — doesn’t have the mournful quality that the first film did.
—Jennifer Zhan, Vulture, 22 Nov. 2024
Russell Crowe beating people to death in a soulful, mournful way?
—Bill Goodykoontz, The Arizona Republic, 20 Nov. 2024
His body battled against gravity—its mournful advance up each step found an echo in the lightning recoil that shot through his face and shoulders.
—Kayla Aletha Welch, Longreads, 19 Nov. 2024
See all Example Sentences for mournful 
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Carlos Aguilar, Variety, 28 Nov. 2024
Very few directors working today can put across a movie like Gladiator II as convincingly, which perhaps explains why the sequel — for all its barbaric violence and the plaintive, at times stirring, discussions about justice and democracy — doesn’t have the mournful quality that the first film did.
—Jennifer Zhan, Vulture, 22 Nov. 2024
Russell Crowe beating people to death in a soulful, mournful way?
—Bill Goodykoontz, The Arizona Republic, 20 Nov. 2024
His body battled against gravity—its mournful advance up each step found an echo in the lightning recoil that shot through his face and shoulders.
—Kayla Aletha Welch, Longreads, 19 Nov. 2024
See all Example Sentences for mournful
Dictionary Entries Near mournful
Cite this Entry
“Mournful.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mournful. Accessed 26 Dec. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
mournful
adjective
mourn·ful
ˈmō(ə)rn-fəl 
ˈmȯ(ə)rn-
1
: expressing or full of sorrow : sorrowful
a mournful face
2
: causing sorrow
a mournful story
mournfulness
noun
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