as in bitterly
with feelings of bitterness or grief
the man sighed plaintively as it became clear that he was getting nowhere with the officious bureaucrat
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Recent Examples of plaintively
Mia plaintively asks Philip at one particularly vulnerable moment.
—
Frank Scheck, HollywoodReporter, 3 Sep. 2019
Frank Scheck, HollywoodReporter, 3 Sep. 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for plaintively
Adverb
-
Tom’s final epiphany related to his estranged son isn’t earned, but not because of Ruffalo; his performance cuts a fine line between bitterly self-destructive and warmly spiritual.—
Roxana Hadadi,
Vulture,
5 Sep. 2025
-
San Francisco officials fought bitterly against Waymo and now-defunct Cruise robotaxis from General Motors, after their vehicles repeatedly blocked traffic and emergency vehicles, with Cruise the main perpetrator.—
Ethan Baron,
Mercury News,
5 Sep. 2025
Adverb
-
He eventually was contacted by a Korean company to audition for them, but sadly, didn’t make it.—
Laura Sirikul,
Forbes.com,
16 Sep. 2025
-
This is, sadly, a lost art; now everything is an elaborate ballet of calling, texting, and planning, with little room for spontaneity.—
Kara Nesvig,
Parents,
12 Sep. 2025
Adverb
-
Prolific over a painfully brief career, Manzoni was one of the most radical artists of the postwar avant-garde in Italy, active between the late 1950s until his death in 1963.—
Natasha Gural,
Forbes.com,
17 Sep. 2025
-
As should be painfully clear by now, there are no shortcuts to peace.—
Bloomberg Opinion,
Twin Cities,
16 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Plaintively.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/plaintively. Accessed 20 Sep. 2025.
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