mournful

adjective

mourn·​ful ˈmȯrn-fəl How to pronounce mournful (audio)
1
: expressing sorrow : sorrowful
2
: full of sorrow : sad
3
: causing sorrow or melancholy : gloomy
mournfully adverb
mournfulness noun

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 There was something that came across in the yearning and the mournful feeling that imbues a lot of Brian Wilson’s music. Andy Greene, Rolling Stone, 19 Feb. 2024 The almost mournful hysteria of the pack echoes off the canyon walls, bypasses the rational brain, and reaches into something deeper, some preverbal place where the laws of men no longer obtain. Bill Heavey, Field & Stream, 1 Feb. 2024 Emin’s oeuvre has only ever orbited one thing: herself, in her many mournful, voluptuous, warty, wild and furious incarnations. Nancy Hass, New York Times, 2 Nov. 2023 Over Halloween weekend, Bushwick warehouse parties and literary soirées saw an influx of Interview mag-era Lana Del Rey imitators, eyes painted in mournful, matte turquoise. Emily Leibert, Allure, 25 Jan. 2024 Hayao Miyazaki’s film cuts abruptly to a parade of tanks rolling down the street, and the piano enters, plaintive, mournful, and almost welcoming. Vulture, 24 Jan. 2024 Jaye Bartell, theater manager for the Anthology Film Archives, strummed a folksy and mournful guitar tune. Alex Vadukul, New York Times, 5 Jan. 2024 Yet these patient, contemplative, quietly rapturous studies for piano and synthesizer are not mournful—at least, no more than the rest of the composer’s gorgeously melancholy oeuvre, which spans more than four decades. Pitchfork, 14 Dec. 2023 Dismissing the biographical jukebox musical structure — in which a body of existing songs is used to tell a musician’s or group’s story onstage — McPherson considered the kind of fable that could accompany Dylan’s mournful melodies and timeless lyrics. Thomas Floyd, Washington Post, 11 Dec. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'mournful.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of mournful was in the 15th century

Dictionary Entries Near mournful

Cite this Entry

“Mournful.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mournful. Accessed 18 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

mournful

adjective
mourn·​ful ˈmō(ə)rn-fəl How to pronounce mournful (audio)
ˈmȯ(ə)rn-
1
: expressing or full of sorrow : sorrowful
a mournful face
2
: causing sorrow
a mournful story
mournfully adverb
mournfulness noun

More from Merriam-Webster on mournful

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