lament
Americanverb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
noun
-
an expression of grief or sorrow.
- Synonyms:
- moan, lamentation
-
a formal expression of sorrow or mourning, especially in verse or song; an elegy or dirge.
verb
noun
-
an expression of sorrow
-
a poem or song in which a death is lamented
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
lamentsimple
-
lamentssimple
-
have lamentedperfect
-
has lamentedperfect
-
am lamentingprogressive
-
are lamentingprogressive
-
is lamentingprogressive
-
have been lamentingperfect progressive
-
has been lamentingperfect progressive
Past
-
lamentedsimple
-
had lamentedperfect
-
was lamentingprogressive
-
were lamentingprogressive
-
had been lamentingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of lament
First recorded in 1520–30; (noun) from Latin lāmentum “plaint”; (verb) from Latin lāmentārī, derivative of lāmentum
Explanation
If you are really upset or sorry about something, you might lament it. A lament is full of regret and grief. If you lament something, then you feel sorry about it. You could lament a mistake you made, or you could lament a horrible thing that happened to a friend. Also, a lament is an expression of grief. So if you keep saying how sorry you are about something, someone could say, "Enough of your laments!" There's also an old literary form called "a lament," which expresses feelings of loss in a long dramatic poem.
Vocabulary lists containing lament
Night
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Christmas Carol Vocab: A Lyrical Lexicon
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The Alchemist
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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.
See Examples For:
As performed by Price, Baez and Memphis Mariachi, their version of “Deportee” manages to be everything: a lament, a celebration of the lives lost, a tribute, a reminder.
From Salon ● Jul. 14, 2026
Recently I was talking to business leaders in Phoenix and their lament was not job loss but the inability to find the right workers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026
Maybe The Proclaimers will have to rewrite the lyrics of their famous deindustrialisation lament, Letter to America.
From BBC ● Jul. 1, 2026
Sotomayor’s lament applies with equal force to Landor v.
From Slate ● Jun. 24, 2026
Aunt Zo, who never missed a chance to lament her marriage, had said at dinner in her comedienne’s voice, “My husband. Always the bridesmaid and never the bride.”
From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides
In “Remake,” McElwee laments the hope that making “Photographic Memory” gave him, an aspiration that he was depicting his son on the cusp of finding his way through the dark.
From Salon ● Jul. 24, 2026
"Oh D.R. me that was close!" it laments.
From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2026
“Club Sport Marítimo de La Guaira profoundly laments the irreparable loss of the wife and sons of our player Lucas Trejo,” the team wrote.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 30, 2026
"I feel like my hands are tied because I can't find her," she laments.
From Barron's ● Jun. 30, 2026
It seems so unfair that a whole family like this is struck by one disease, Farmer laments.
From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French
Only evidence will win over every doubter within Rangers' support, who have also lamented the lack of a figurehead during a tumultuous period of managerial upheaval.
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026
Previously, these users had to rely on “manual monitoring” of Truth Social, the company lamented.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026
They lamented the lack of public transportation options, then marveled at Waymo.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 18, 2026
Zelensky himself lamented that the two sides were barely on speaking terms.
From Barron's ● Jul. 17, 2026
“She is Ophelia, my daughter and my treasure, the exact copy and very picture of her departed and lamented mother,” said my father grandly, before I could open my mouth.
From "Ophelia" by Lisa Klein
He is lamenting the death of his wife, Seleuce, who is not actually dead but also on Cyprus, pretending to be a shepherdess and looking for him.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
Thousands of other users posted their thoughts online about this poll question, with some lamenting the respondents’ lack of understanding of probability.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 24, 2026
Those in the data center industry are lamenting the state of public opinion.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 2, 2026
In life, she’s the kid who realizes that parents don’t love all their children equally, and instead of lamenting that absence, surrounds herself with a chosen family that values her as she is.
From Salon ● May 20, 2026
Inwardly lamenting my fate, I lifted the sack and began my life as servant to the Bear.
From "Crispin: The Cross of Lead" by Avi
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
