plaintively
If you do something plaintively, you’re doing it in a way that expresses sadness or melancholy. When you get tired of playing fetch, dogs will look up at you plaintively. Just try to resist those big sad eyes, just try!
The root of the word plaintively is the French word plainte, meaning “lamentation.” It’s also the origin of the word plaintiff, meaning a person who brings a lawsuit against someone else. The person has a complaint, something to lament or be sad about. If she argues her case plaintively enough, however, the judge might be convinced by her sorrow and rule in her favor.
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in a plaintive manner“the last note of the song rang out plaintively”
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Vocabulary lists containing plaintively
Set during the Great Depression, Steinbeck's classic novel tells the story of shrewd, scheming George and loyal, childlike Lennie. The two farm workers dream of owning their own land but must struggle merely to survive.
In the 1940s, a working class African-American family in Chicago must decide how to best spend a ten-thousand dollar insurance payout.
After meeting the Tucks, a family that is able to live forever after drinking from a magical spring, Winnie Foster questions whether immortality is a blessing or a curse.