plaintive
10
7.9
- adjective
- /ˈpleɪntɪv/
:
lastimero
- Carl looks at the money, then he gives Ben a plaintive look.
- plaintive cry
I I wanted to be a singer and I was singing jazz and kind of writing these plaintive little songs in Canada.
- I I wanted to be a singer and I was singing jazz and kind of writing these plaintive little songs in Canada.
- So I ask you to come with us, to come to Roque Island on ship, she said, and suddenly made a little moaning, plaintive noise.
Examples
-
I could hear the plaintive sound of a violin concerto playing softly on his stereo.
Fiction book (1990) -
I I wanted to be a singer and I was singing jazz and kind of writing these plaintive little songs in Canada.
-
Finally, his back to me, he spoke in a plaintive voice, as though he couldn't get enough air.
Fiction book (1996) -
"Daddy, do we have to have another fight about this?" The voice is plaintive from the backseat.
Fiction book (1994) -
In a very small, plaintive voice, she rhetorically asked, "What on earth will I make for dinner?"
Fiction book (1997) -
And why did the singer's plaintive voice fill her with dread?
Fiction book (1996) -
A pipe sounds first, low and plaintive, filling the theater and stilling the whispers of the crowd.
-
Through the rattle of fell fronds rose yet another sound, a plaintive bleating of sheep.
Fiction book (1993) -
And further on, the loons' weird yodeling turned into the plaintive cry that resembles a wolf's.
Fiction book (1998) -
She asked in a plaintive voice, hoping someone would help her find her lost dog.
Synonyms
842
1.0
Bad or unfortunate and likely to make people feel unhappy
37
5.9
Feeling or showing deep sadness
26
1.8
Showing you are about to cry because of a strong feeling
23
4.1
Looking or feeling sad and quiet
20
3.7
Feeling like you want to cry easily
18
3.9
Feeling deep sadness because of a loss
14
3.6
Feeling very sad because of loss or disappointment
3
8.2
Feeling or showing deep sadness
2
9.1
Showing sad feelings about something lost or in the past
1
9.9
Feeling or showing deep sadness because of a loss
Very sad in a way that sounds like a funeral song
Antonyms
How Sad
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Plaintive comes from the old word plaint meaning 'complaint' or 'sad cry', the same root you see in complaint. So a plaintive sound is like a quiet, sad complaint or cry, which is why we use it for voices or music that feel sad.