variants
also elegiacal
as in depressing
causing or marked by an atmosphere lacking in cheer
the sight of an old ruined church or castle can be a pleasantly elegiac experience
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of elegiac
Valorie Castellanos Clark, Los Angeles Times, 15 May 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
The author’s elegiac prose is wrought in English by translator Humphrey Davies.
—Nate Zipp, Christian Science Monitor, 1 May 2025
Anatomy of a Transpacific Cyber Campaign by Michael Berry
Sam Needleman
‘On the Brink of Erasure’
Tacita Dean’s mesmerizing, elegiac drawing and filmmaking spring from both broad exploration and acute focus.
—Susan Tallman, The New York Review of Books, 25 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for elegiac
Noun
But don’t let his elegiac prose divert you — there is a dedicated scholar at work here.
—Valorie Castellanos Clark, Los Angeles Times, 15 May 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
The author’s elegiac prose is wrought in English by translator Humphrey Davies.
—Nate Zipp, Christian Science Monitor, 1 May 2025
Anatomy of a Transpacific Cyber Campaign by Michael Berry
Sam Needleman
‘On the Brink of Erasure’
Tacita Dean’s mesmerizing, elegiac drawing and filmmaking spring from both broad exploration and acute focus.
—Susan Tallman, The New York Review of Books, 25 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for elegiac
Recent Examples of Synonyms for elegiac
Adjective
-
That this show could mark a turning point for free speech and the First Amendment is just too depressing to contemplate.—
Bill Goodykoontz,
AZCentral.com,
2 July 2025
-
But already there are major depressing effects on the ports and warehousing that are important contributors to California's economy.—
James Bickerton,
MSNBC Newsweek,
19 June 2025
Adjective
-
American kids also experienced an increase in early onset of menstruation, trouble sleeping, limitations in activity, physical symptoms, depressive symptoms and loneliness during the study period.—
Stephen Sorace,
FOXNews.com,
8 July 2025
-
Rates of depressive symptoms, loneliness and physical complaints such as headaches and stomachaches have also worsened.—
Daniella Gray,
MSNBC Newsweek,
7 July 2025
Noun
-
Vo’s ongoing examination of empire and identity unfolds here as both monument and elegy.—
Nel-Olivia Waga,
Forbes.com,
17 June 2025
-
What if Durham’s vision for the sequel could be turned inside out, undergoing a transformation like The Greatest from retrospective to comeback, elegy to unfinished story.—
Melina Moe
May 19,
Literary Hub,
19 May 2025
Adjective
-
This is one time to keep your morbid curiosity to yourself.—
Betsy Cribb Watson,
Southern Living,
5 July 2025
-
Using Iris’ old newspaper clippings to validate the seemingly never-ending string of violent deaths, Stefani and her surviving family members desparately begin to look for a way to break the morbid cycle.—
Tim Lammers,
Forbes.com,
4 July 2025
Noun
-
This eatery at the summit of Cannon’s tramway offers cafeteria food, grab-and-go options, and, most notably, the highest-elevation beer taps in the state of New Hampshire.—
Sarah Cahalan,
Travel + Leisure,
23 Dec. 2024
-
This lack of resolution taps into the brain’s natural drive for cognitive closure, which according to 2014 study, is the innate desire to resolve ambiguity and make sense of unfinished experiences.—
Mark Travers,
Forbes,
23 Dec. 2024
Adjective
-
Joya had been allowed to pull the flouncy bit off her shoulders, like the singers in ABBA, but since my mother told me to keep covered, the top surrounded me sadly like a funereal wreath.—
Jhumpa Lahiri,
New Yorker,
30 June 2025
-
The Jansson rift is captured in her Family painting, a stark portrait of her father and younger brother Per Olov in their military outfits, with the artist in funereal attire brooding over Per Olov’s chess game with youngest brother Lars.—
Patrick Sauer,
Smithsonian Magazine,
27 June 2025
Noun
-
But today that moral arc is as twisted as a gnarled, rotten root, and God Bless America has been replaced by the mournful dirge of Taps.—
Marci Alborghetti,
Hartford Courant,
3 July 2025
-
After learning of the loss of the iron ore freighter Edmund Fitzgerald on Lake Superior and the deaths of all 29 crew members from Newsweek, Gord lifted passages from the article and put them to a dreamy dirge: The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.—
Ryan Craig,
Forbes.com,
13 June 2025
Adjective
-
Navigate through the shop aisle to the breezy oceanfront dining room in the back, set on a surprisingly chill stretch of sand.—
Carley Rojas Avila,
Travel + Leisure,
12 July 2025
-
While the small town of Kailua-Kona can be bustling during the summer months, the Big Island is typically chill.—
Will McGough,
Forbes.com,
17 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Elegiac.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/elegiac. Accessed 21 Jul. 2025.
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