plaintive

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

As he sings on “Come Back,” the album’s plaintive opener, “I had a really strange reaction, delayed I think by simple fear, if I don’t listen I can’t hear.”

From Salon • May 15, 2026

Gladiator II and Hamnet star Mescal has a huge social media fanbase and mentioned last December he was loving a song called Evelyn, a plaintive folk ballad from Michael's second album Thin White Road.

From BBC • Jan. 22, 2026

Testing the human animal’s tolerance for plaintive fiddles, wheezy bagpipes, Peter Coyote and the whispery recitations of diary entries, “The American Revolution” is the most Ken Burns-y of Ken Burns series.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 13, 2025

This pageant of puppetry includes a flutter of butterflies, a goat with a plaintive bleat, a menagerie of wild animals and, at one point, a school of glowing fish.

From Los Angeles Times • May 9, 2025

“You’re more like what you were at Malpais,” he said, when Bernard had told him his plaintive story.

From "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley