mournful Hear it!

mournful Definition

mourn·ful (môrn′fəl)

adjective

  1. of or characterized by mourning; feeling or expressing grief or sorrow
  2. causing sorrow or depression; melancholy
  3. having a sound, appearance, etc. that suggests sadness

mournful Related Forms

mourn′·fully adverb mourn′·ful·ness noun

mournful Synonyms

mournful

modif.

  1. Afflicted with sorrow

    sorrowful, mourning, forlorn, unhappy; see sad 1.

  2. Suggestive of sorrow

    distressing, pitiable, pathetic; see sad 2.

mournful Usage Examples

Modifies a noun

  • cry: Their mournful cries are reminders of their partial exile.
  • tone: No sounds but the humming insects and the distant mournful tones of the muffled bells.
  • vocal: Fanfarlo take all of these and deliver them back with clean mournful vocals, brilliant melodies and sparks of joy.
  • tune: Concluding track Take Comfort From Me is a mournful tune with violin adding an intense atmosphere to the song's opening segment.
  • song: The wind echoed a mournful song through the barren trees.
  • eye: The dog's mournful eyes passed from one of us to the other.

Modifying Another Word

  • rather: A plaintive, piping trill with the rather mournful qualities of a diver echoed across the still water.
  • so: And you'll tell us why you were so mournful upstairs.
  • slightly: I think that hearing that slightly mournful guitar motif got him thinking about Syd.
  • little: It is true that our surroundings were a little mournful, perhaps unnaturally so to those habitual shoppers.
  • very: Our waiter was the only unwelcoming Lebanese person I had ever met and seemed very mournful and depressed.
  • suitably: You find a suitably mournful melodic idea, then you repeat it.

Used with adjective complement

  • look: Demon 8: Puts his hands on his hips and looks mournful.
  • sound: When any bell is out of tune it sounds mournful instead of joyous.