plaintive

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Related to plaintive: detestable, ostentatious, inordinate, imperturbable, unassailable, sporadically

plaintive

expressing sorrow; mournful: a plaintive melody; wistful, sad

Not to be confused with:

plaintiff – the party who institutes a suit in court, opposed to defendant

plain·tive

(plān′tĭv)

adj.

Expressing sorrow; mournful or melancholy.

[Middle English plaintif, from Old French, aggrieved, lamenting, from plaint, complaint; see plaint.]

plain′tive·ly adv.

plain′tive·ness n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

plaintive

(ˈpleɪntɪv)

adj

expressing melancholy; mournful

[C14: from Old French plaintif grieving, from plainte plaint]

ˈplaintively adv

ˈplaintiveness n

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

plain•tive

(ˈpleɪn tɪv)

adj.

expressing sorrow or melancholy; mournful: a plaintive melody.

[1350–1400; Middle English plaintif < Middle French; see plaint, -ive]

plain′tive•ly, adv.

plain′tive•ness, n.

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Adj.

plaintive - expressing sorrow

mournful

sorrowful - experiencing or marked by or expressing sorrow especially that associated with irreparable loss; "sorrowful widows"; "a sorrowful tale of death and despair"; "sorrowful news"; "even in laughter the heart is sorrowful"- Proverbs 14:13

plaintive

adjective sorrowful, sad, pathetic, melancholy, grievous, pitiful, woeful, wistful, mournful, heart-rending, rueful, grief-stricken, disconsolate, doleful, woebegone, piteous Her voice was small and plaintive.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

plaintive

adjective

Full of or expressive of sorrow:

doleful, dolorous, lugubrious, mournful, rueful, sad, sorrowful, woebegone, woeful.

Translations

نائِح، شَجي، حَزين

žalostný

sørgmodig

wehleidig

plaintif

panaszos

angurvær

lamentoso querulo

graudumasgraudžiai

žēlabains

vemodig

жалобный

acıklıkederli

悲哀的

plaintive

[ˈpleɪntɪv] ADJ → lastimero, quejumbroso

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

plaintive

[ˈpleɪntɪv] adj → plaintif/ive

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

plaintive

adj → klagend; voice etc also → wehleidig (pej); song etc also → schwermütig, elegisch (geh); look etc → leidend; the letter ended on a plaintive note → der Brief schloss mit einer Klage

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

plaintive

[ˈpleɪntɪv] adj (voice, song) → lamentoso/a; (look) → struggente
plaintive cry → lamento

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

plaintive

(ˈpleintiv) adjective

sounding sad or sorrowful. a plaintive cry.

ˈplaintively adverb

ˈplaintiveness noun

Mentioned in ?

References in classic literature ?

A strain of plaintive music, played on stringed instruments, and flutes, recalled my attention to the hidden shrine.

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There is no order more noisily given or taken up with lustier shouts on board a homeward-bound merchant ship than the command, "Man the windlass!" The rush of expectant men out of the forecastle, the snatching of hand-spikes, the tramp of feet, the clink of the pawls, make a stirring accompaniment to a plaintive up-anchor song with a roaring chorus; and this burst of noisy activity from a whole ship's crew seems like a voiceful awakening of the ship herself, till then, in the picturesque phrase of Dutch seamen, "lying asleep upon her iron."

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I remember the worried, plaintive look that came into his eyes as he examined the ice.

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While his lips were yet in the act of parting, a low but fearful sound arose from the forest, and was immediately succeeded by a high, shrill yell, that was drawn out, until it equaled the longest and most plaintive howl of the wolf.

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With a pitiful and plaintive look for everything, indeed, but with something in it for only him that was like protection, this Child of the Marshalsea and the child of the Father of the Marshalsea, sat by her friend the turnkey in the lodge, kept the family room, or wandered about the prison-yard, for the first eight years of her life.

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Here in thy loneliness the eglantine Weaves her sweet tapestries above thy head, While blow across thy bed, Moist with the dew of heaven, the breezes chill: Fire-fly, will-o'-the-wisp, and wandering star Glow in thy gloom, and naught is heard but the far Chanting of woodman and shepherd from the hill, Naught but the startled bird is seen Soaring away in the moonland sheen, Or the hulk of the scampering beast that fears Their plaintive lays as, to and fro, The pallid singers go.

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Now an impressive pause - then the bugle sang "TAPS" - translatable, this time, into "Good-bye, and God keep us all!" for taps is the soldier's nightly release from duty, and farewell: plaintive, sweet, pathetic, for the morning is never sure, for him; always it is possible that he is hearing it for the last time.

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There was something more plaintive than these words, and that was the accent in which they were uttered.

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Constantly they gave tongue to a plaintive note of calling.

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Once, just as her eyes had opened, apparently in the last stage of drowsiness, the roaring winds brought with them a long and plaintive howl, that seemed too wild for a dog, and yet resembled the cries of that faithful animal, when night awakens his vigilance, and gives sweetness and solemnity to its charms.

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But after the exclamation of surprise that had escaped from Vereshchagin he uttered a plaintive cry of pain, and that cry was fatal.

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The plaintive song begins to well forth and float away over meadow and river--the cross-bow is slowly raised to position, a steady aim is taken, the bolt flies straight to the mark--the figure sinks down, still singing, the knight takes the wool out of his ears, and recognizes the old ballad--too late!