1
: expressing sorrow : sorrowful
2
: full of sorrow : sad
3
: causing sorrow or melancholy : gloomy
mournfulness
noun
Examples of mournful in a Sentence
she had such a mournful expression that someone teasingly asked if her dog had died
the mournful survivors of the disaster were faced with the grim task of burying the dead
Recent Examples on the Web
The Defender published several obituaries, mournful but proud.
—
Victor Luckerson, Smithsonian Magazine, 13 May 2025
Trump, meanwhile, drew the public’s attention for wearing a dark blue suit and a lighter blue tie in a sea of mournful black attire.
—Darlene Superville, Los Angeles Times, 26 Apr. 2025
The slow, mournful piano chords capture the somber bite of the scene with remarkable punch yet also a sobering stillness, and that’s before the elegiac words carry the song off into the sky.
—Daniel Dylan Wray, Pitchfork, 8 May 2025
Wynette’s mournful lyrics about a partner who has left—will one protagonist leave the other during the game’s main campaign?—to the sound of lonely, sad acoustic country music is the flip side of Wang Chung’s carefree spirit.
—Brady Gerber, Vulture, 7 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for mournful
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Victor Luckerson, Smithsonian Magazine, 13 May 2025
Trump, meanwhile, drew the public’s attention for wearing a dark blue suit and a lighter blue tie in a sea of mournful black attire.
—Darlene Superville, Los Angeles Times, 26 Apr. 2025
The slow, mournful piano chords capture the somber bite of the scene with remarkable punch yet also a sobering stillness, and that’s before the elegiac words carry the song off into the sky.
—Daniel Dylan Wray, Pitchfork, 8 May 2025
Wynette’s mournful lyrics about a partner who has left—will one protagonist leave the other during the game’s main campaign?—to the sound of lonely, sad acoustic country music is the flip side of Wang Chung’s carefree spirit.
—Brady Gerber, Vulture, 7 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for mournful
Cite this Entry
“Mournful.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mournful. Accessed 5 Jun. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
mournful
adjective
mourn·ful
ˈmō(ə)rn-fəl 
ˈmȯ(ə)rn-
1
: expressing or full of sorrow : sorrowful
a mournful face
2
: causing sorrow
a mournful story
mournfulness
noun
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