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.

Ms. Burgess’s light soprano and plaintive vibrato suggest that Thorn Rose is not entirely convinced that awakening is a good idea, but she goes along with it.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 24, 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

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

The resulting lush and exotic soundscape, featuring plaintive pan flute and sprinkled with birdsong, turned out to be perfect for the game’s spooktastic forest levels.

From New York Times • Nov. 19, 2024

As coveted as his shells were, Pocock had begun to find himself struggling to stay in business, reduced to writing plaintive letters to coaches around the country, pleading for orders.

From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown