1
as in weeping
expressing or suggesting mourning
she had such a mournful expression that someone teasingly asked if her dog had died
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2
as in sad
feeling unhappiness
the mournful survivors of the disaster were faced with the grim task of burying the dead
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3
as in depressing
causing unhappiness
the mournful death of a beloved entertainer
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of mournful
Outwardly glassy but mournful on the inside, the film is a fairly overt expression of grief — one that’s even more acute coming out just a year after 9/11.
—
Tim Grierson, Vulture, 24 Jan. 2025
Sunday's mournful cowboy funeral is attended only by his family, the bunkhouse crew, and three close friends.
—Ana Rocío Álvarez Bríñez, The Indianapolis Star, 18 Dec. 2024
Angelo Badalamenti’s mournful, string-laden score draws us in, emphasizing the quaintness of the visuals, while also suggesting a deeper pain at the core of this place.
—Harrison Richlin, IndieWire, 19 Jan. 2025
The Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) shared a sorrowful story across their social media feeds about a mournful looking cat.
—Tj MacIas, Miami Herald, 10 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for mournful
Tim Grierson, Vulture, 24 Jan. 2025
Sunday's mournful cowboy funeral is attended only by his family, the bunkhouse crew, and three close friends.
—Ana Rocío Álvarez Bríñez, The Indianapolis Star, 18 Dec. 2024
Angelo Badalamenti’s mournful, string-laden score draws us in, emphasizing the quaintness of the visuals, while also suggesting a deeper pain at the core of this place.
—Harrison Richlin, IndieWire, 19 Jan. 2025
The Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) shared a sorrowful story across their social media feeds about a mournful looking cat.
—Tj MacIas, Miami Herald, 10 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for mournful
Recent Examples of Synonyms for mournful
Adjective
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And every day, across from them, outside the clinic, about to enter or just leaving, there were women hugging each other and weeping.—
David Mamet,
National Review,
11 Aug. 2022
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The show manages to stay on the brink — always laughing, never quite weeping — for its entire length.—
Helen Shaw,
Vulture,
8 Dec. 2021
Adjective
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Police sad officers began providing aid to Mitchell, but medics later pronounced him dead at the scene.—
Rosalio Ahumada,
Sacramento Bee,
4 Mar. 2025
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Oklahoma represents the sad conclusion of the Trail of Tears, and Tulsa serves as the meeting point for tribal nations—the Osage, Muscogee, and Cherokee.—
Nicholas Lalla,
WIRED,
4 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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That depressing fact gets reiterated many times, without much variation or additional insight, during Running Point’s 10-episode season.—
EW.com,
EW.com,
27 Feb. 2025
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In this new techno-dating reality, the number of fights sparked by clothes being left on the floor would dramatically decrease, instead being replaced by not-at-all depressing scenes of men standing alone in their apartments talking to a speaker.—
Nic Juarez,
Vulture,
19 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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Now the family is grappling with funeral arrangements for the young woman.—
John Annese,
New York Daily News,
2 Mar. 2025
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Their son Donny attended to all of the funeral arrangements with the help of his wife Jan, a nurse, and his daughters Andrea and Alicia.—
Phil Potempa,
Chicago Tribune,
8 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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Independent distributors are unhappy with the growing percentage of royalty payments for their artists that are too low to be worth processing.—
Bill Rosenblatt,
Forbes,
6 Mar. 2025
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The Penguins listed Bunting as a healthy scratch early this season because coaches were unhappy with his effort in games and practices.—
Josh Yohe,
The Athletic,
6 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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This is pathetic, as Russia would do everything in their power to interfere in that election.—
Dan Perry,
Newsweek,
19 Feb. 2025
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This character is just like me – funny and sad, tragic, pathetic and brave, emotionally available but all over the place.—
Stuart Miller,
Orange County Register,
18 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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The record for the shortest Oscar-winning performance goes to Beatrice Straight, who played the heartbroken wife of a philandering TV station president in Sidney Lumet’s 1976 film Network.—
Jordan Runtagh,
People.com,
2 Mar. 2025
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Listen to this article Skokie restaurateurs were left heartbroken on Valentine’s Day when a broken water main disaster in northeastern Skokie left the village without drinkable tap water from Feb. 14 through 16.—
Richard Requena,
Chicago Tribune,
25 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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Feingold, who has been in practice for more than 30 years specializing in women’s reproductive health, believes the hospital should have given Pike a mental health evaluation after her confession of feeling depressed and self-harm at Destinii’s birth.—
PJ Green,
Kansas City Star,
25 Feb. 2025
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Examples include formerly depressed but now vibrant cities, such as Pittsburgh, and once stagnant but now relatively successful developing countries, such as Bangladesh and Rwanda.—
Foreign Affairs,
Foreign Affairs,
25 Feb. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Mournful.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mournful. Accessed 12 Mar. 2025.
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