plaintive
adj/ˈpleɪntɪv/
Etymology From Middle English pleintif, plentyff, from Old French pleintif (“aggrieved, lamenting”) (whence modern French plaintif), from plainte (“lament, complaint”); see plaint. Doublet of plaintiff.
1
Sounding sorrowful, mournful or melancholic.
- a typically plaintive song from Radiohead
- I can see by your plaintive smile something is wrong, so spill it.
1 more example
- When my wife and I heard a plaintive whinny from our laundry room the other day, we knew that our old dryer had cycled its last load.2026 January 16, Danny Heitman, “An empty nester’s ode to the cycles of laundry – and life”, in The Christian Science Monitor:
- Derived terms
- plaintively, plaintiveness, unplaintive