mournful

[mawrn-fuhl, mohrn-]

adjective

1. feeling or expressing sorrow or grief; sorrowful; sad.

2. of or relating to mourning mourning for the dead.

3. causing grief or lament.

   a mournful occasion.

4. gloomy, somber, or dreary, as in appearance or character.

   mournful shadows.

mournful

/ ˈmɔːnfʊl /

adjective

1. evoking grief; sorrowful

2. gloomy; sad

Other Word Forms

• mournfulness noun
• mournfully adverb
• overmournful adjective
• overmournfully adverb
• overmournfulness noun
• unmournful adjective
• unmournfully adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of mournful¹

First recorded in 1375–1425, mournful is from the late Middle English word morneful. See mourn, -ful

Example Sentences

“She has such a deep feel for human beings. This is a sad, mournful but beautiful meditation on loss. People should be prepared to cathartically cry. There isn’t a false note in it.”

From Los Angeles Times

Meanwhile, in Latin America, the mournful tones of traditional boleros and rancheras gave way to more alternative expressions of heartache, influenced by anglophone artists and accented with distinctly Latino flourishes of romance.

From Los Angeles Times

Several of her patients left mournful messages on the Yelp page of her Arcadia practice.

From Los Angeles Times

His mournful Ethiopian melodic lilt stood out like nothing else in Top 40, and he hung onto enough art-freak sensibility that he could headline the Super Bowl halftime show with dancers in full-face plastic-surgery bandages.

From Los Angeles Times

Moving forward while looking back is a good way of describing the process of making the new “28 Years Later,” a film with an emotional energy that is somehow both terrifying and mournful.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• anguished 
• forlorn 
• sad