mournful
feeling or expressing sorrow or grief; sorrowful; sad.
of or relating to mourning for the dead.
causing grief or lament: a mournful occasion.
gloomy, somber, or dreary, as in appearance or character: mournful shadows.
Origin of mournful
1Other words from mournful
- mourn·ful·ly, adverb
- mourn·ful·ness, noun
- o·ver·mourn·ful, adjective
- o·ver·mourn·ful·ly, adverb
- o·ver·mourn·ful·ness, noun
- un·mourn·ful, adjective
- un·mourn·ful·ly, adverb
Words Nearby mournful
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use mournful in a sentence
It may be hard to find more mournful meaning in a mere number.
Monday was a summer landmark: The last sunrise before 6:30 a.m. | Martin Weil | August 24, 2021 | Washington PostThe Samaritaine department store—once grand, but recently shuttered at the time of the movie’s filming—had its own supporting role, looming over the proceedings like a mournful gray ghost.
Annette Is Gorgeous to Look at But All the Wrong Kinds of Weird | Stephanie Zacharek | August 6, 2021 | TimeAbout Endlessness, meditative, mournful and subtly celebratory, reminds us to cherish the in-between.
It’s meditative, mournful and gently funny, and celebratory, too, but in a muted way.
Roy Andersson's Quietly Gorgeous About Endlessness Explores Questions for Which There Are No Answers | Stephanie Zacharek | April 29, 2021 | TimeThe plaintiveness of his surrender is both funny and mournful.
In the Oscar-Nominated The Man Who Sold His Skin, a Refugee Stakes His Future on a Tattoo | Stephanie Zacharek | April 9, 2021 | Time
The familiar and mournful theme song, “Suicide Is Painless,” filled the room.
These aren't stomping tunes, but tender and mournful folk songs, a bespoke genre.
The proper melodies for putting Hebrew poems to music were Russian, and mostly mournful.
"Nothing here but Oxy and coal," says one of the subjects of Sean Dunne's mournful documentary Oxyana.
It followed one of the saddest and most profoundly mournful images of defeat.
Election Night 2012: Fashion of Jubilation And Mourning | Robin Givhan | November 7, 2012 | THE DAILY BEASTFelipe watched over her as a lover might; her great mournful eyes followed his every motion.
Ramona | Helen Hunt JacksonA red moon hung above the mournful hills, and the stars shone in their myriads.
The Wave | Algernon BlackwoodA cold and mournful wind blew down the street, ruffling the darkened river.
The Wave | Algernon BlackwoodThey jeered and sounded mournful notes without promise, devoid even of hope.
The Awakening and Selected Short Stories | Kate ChopinHalf an hour later the island was silent as the grave, but for the mournful voices of the wind as it sighed up from the sea.
Three More John Silence Stories | Algernon Blackwood
British Dictionary definitions for mournful
/ (ˈmɔːnfʊl) /
evoking grief; sorrowful
gloomy; sad
Derived forms of mournful
- mournfully, adverb
- mournfulness, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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