elegiac
2
9.1
- adjective
- /ˌɛlɪˈdʒaɪɪk/
- Literature
:
elegíaco
- Its somber tone sounded somehow elegiac to me in that moment.
- elegiac tone
- elegiac tradition
- elegiac poetry
That was a really elegiac day.
- That was a really elegiac day.
Examples
-
Less than a minute of looking at them is enough to feed my elegiac joy.
Fiction book (1995) -
The poet's latest work is an elegiac reflection on lost love and missed opportunities.
-
OK, so death in virtue is an elegiac experience.
-
So whatever value this history may have, it's an elegiac commemoration of the past.
-
'Cause I'm increasingly drawn to its elegiac tone.
-
"Surely your wife's tragic death could provide inspiration for poetry in an elegiac mood." "Perhaps," he said.
Fiction book (1992) -
Robot & Frank is at once a comic caper movie and an elegiac examination of aging and loss.
Academic text (2017) -
Wild Strawberries is an elegiac road film leading from a sense of imminent catastrophe to deliverance.
Academic text (2009) -
Lane's subversion of elegiac devices in the memoir illustrates this central paradox.
Academic text (2014) -
Her speech was elegiac, filled with nostalgia and sorrow for the days gone by.
Synonyms
842
1.0
Bad or unfortunate and likely to make people feel unhappy
66
6.8
Making you feel very sad or deeply moved
37
5.9
Feeling or showing deep sadness
18
3.9
Feeling deep sadness because of a loss
14
3.6
Feeling very sad because of loss or disappointment
12
6.7
Very sad and shocked after losing someone close
10
7.9
Having a sad sound that makes people feel unhappy
5
7.8
Feeling sorry about something you did and showing it
5
7.2
Feeling deep, quiet sadness
3
8.2
Feeling or showing deep sadness
1
9.9
Feeling or showing deep sadness because of a loss
1
9.9
Showing sadness or making people want to cry
Very sad in a way that sounds like a funeral song
Feeling very sad after someone you love dies
Antonyms
Compounds
- Literature
A group of four lines in a poem with ABAB rhyme often used for poems about loss
How Sad
- Literature
3
9.5
5
7.2
18
3.9
- Literature
2
9.1
17
6.5
70
5.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Elegiac comes from the old word elegy, which was a 'poem' or 'song' of 'sorrow' often for the dead. So something elegiac has the same quiet, sad feeling as an elegy, full of loss and longing.