mournful

/'mɔ:nful/

Thân thiện

The child's mournful expression made everyone feel sad.

Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Feeling or expressing sorrow or grief: Describes a person who is deeply sad or an atmosphere filled with sadness.
   • Causing or evoking a feeling of sadness: Describes something, such as a sound, sight, or event, that makes one feel sorrowful.

Usage

• Used to describe a person's appearance, expression, or demeanor when they are sad.
• Used to describe sounds (like a cry or song), places, or situations that have a quality of sadness.
• Often used in formal or literary contexts to convey deep, poignant sorrow.

Examples

• Describing a person or expression:
  • She had a mournful look in her eyes after hearing the news.
  • The mournful widow stood silently by the graveside.
• Describing a sound or atmosphere:
  • The mournful sound of the cello filled the concert hall.
  • The abandoned house had a mournful silence about it.

Advanced Usage

• "Mournful of" (archaic/poetic): Feeling sorrow about something.
  • He was mournful of the lost opportunities of his youth.
• Used to intensify the description of a lament or cry.
  • The mournful wail of the sirens signaled the disaster.

Variants and Related Words

• Mournfully (adverb): In a sorrowful manner.
  • He sighed mournfully.
• Mournfulness (noun): The state or quality of being mournful.
  • The mournfulness of the melody was palpable.
• Mourning (noun/verb): The act of expressing grief, especially after a death. (Note: This is a related but distinct word).
  • The family is in mourning.

Synonyms

• Sorrowful: Full of or feeling sorrow.
• Doleful: Expressing sorrow; mournful.
• Melancholy: A feeling of pensive sadness.
• Lugubrious: Looking or sounding sad and dismal.
• Woeful: Characterized by, expressing, or causing sorrow or misery.

Antonyms

• Joyful: Feeling or expressing great happiness.
• Cheerful: Noticeably happy and optimistic.
• Jubilant: Feeling or expressing great happiness and triumph.

Related Idioms and Phrases

• A mournful tune: A song or melody that sounds sad.
  • The musician played a mournful tune on his violin.
• To cast a mournful shadow: To create an atmosphere of sadness.
  • The tragedy cast a mournful shadow over the small town.

Học thuật

Adjective

1. filled with or evoking sadness
   • the child's doleful expression
   • stared with mournful eyes
   • mournful news
2. expressing sorrow

Từ đồng nghĩa

• doleful
• plaintive