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Webster 1913 Edition


Plaintive

Plain′tive

,
Adj.
[F.
plaintif
. See
Plaintiff
,
Noun.
]
1.
Repining; complaining; lamenting.
Dryden.
2.
Expressive of sorrow or melancholy; mournful; sad.
“The most plaintive ditty.”
Landor.
Plain′tive-ly
,
adv.
Plain′tive-ness
,
Noun.

Webster 1828 Edition


Plaintive

PLA'INTIVE

,
Adj.
Lamenting; complaining; expressive of sorrow; as a plaintive sound or song.
1.
Complaining; expressing sorrow or grief; repining.
To sooth the sorrows of her plaintive son.

Definition 2024


plaintive

plaintive

English

Adjective

plaintive (comparative more plaintive, superlative most plaintive)

  1. Sounding sorrowful, mournful or melancholic.
    A typically plaintive song from Radiohead.

Related terms

Translations

External links

  • plaintive in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
  • plaintive in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911

French

Adjective

plaintive

  1. feminine singular of plaintif