plaintive

English

Etymology

From Middle English pleintif, plentyff, from French plaintif (“aggrieved, lamenting”), from plainte (“lament, complaint”); see plaint. Doublet of plaintiff.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpleɪntɪv/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

Adjective

plaintive (comparative more plaintive, superlative most plaintive)

1. Sounding sorrowful, mournful or melancholic.

   Synonyms: miserable, unhappy; see also Thesaurus:cheerless, Thesaurus:sad

   a typically plaintive song from Radiohead

   I can see by your plaintive smile something is wrong, so spill it.

Related terms

• plaint
• plaintiff

Translations

Sorrowful, mournful or melancholic

• Bulgarian: тъжен (bg) (tǎžen), жален (bg) (žalen)
• Czech: plačtivý (cs)
• Georgian: საცოდავი (sacodavi)
• German: traurig (de), wehleidig (de), klagend (de), Klage- (de)
• Irish: acaointeach, truacánta
• Italian: querulo (it)
• Maori: tīkapa
• Russian: го́рестный (ru) m (górestnyj)
• Scottish Gaelic: tiamhaidh
• Spanish: morriñoso, melancólico (es), triste (es), nostálgico (es)
• Ukrainian: жалібний m (žalibnyj)

Further reading

• “plaintive”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “plaintive”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.

French

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Adjective

plaintive

1. feminine singular of plaintif