elegiac

[ el-i-jahy-uhk, -ak, ih-lee-jee-ak ]

adjective

1. used in, suitable for, or resembling an elegy.
2. expressing sorrow or lamentation:

   elegiac strains.

3. Classical Prosody. noting a distich or couplet the first line of which is a dactylic hexameter and the second a pentameter, or a verse differing from the hexameter by suppression of the arsis or metrically unaccented part of the third and the sixth foot.

noun

1. an elegiac or distich verse.
2. a poem in such distichs or verses.

elegiac

/ ˌɛlɪˈdʒaɪək /

adjective

1. resembling, characteristic of, relating to, or appropriate to an elegy
2. lamenting; mournful; plaintive
3. denoting or written in elegiac couplets or elegiac stanzas

noun

1. often plural an elegiac couplet or stanza

Derived Forms

• ˌeleˈgiacally, adverb

Other Words From

• ele·gia·cal·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of elegiac¹

First recorded in 1575–85; from Middle French, from Latin elegīacus, from Greek elegeiakós; equivalent to elegy + -ac

Example Sentences

References to John can be found in some of his brother's works, such as in The Character of the Happy Warrior, Stepping Westward and Elegiac Stanzas.

From BBC

Lourdes Portillo’s elegiac “Senorita Extraviada” documents with low-key persistence the conditions in Ciudad Juarez that make some say, “There is no better place in the world to kill a young woman.”

From Los Angeles Times

It’s an elegiac relationship, compounded by the recent passing of my grandmother, who embodied holiness and unadulterated love in every sense.

From Salon

HH: I feel like you tap into the elegiac a lot, like your sound piece for Greg Tate.

From Los Angeles Times

The rendition she performed at the Grammys — her first-ever performance on the award show, which makes sense given how underestimated and slighted by the industry Mitchell has felt throughout most of her career — was at once elegiac and nimble, backed by a loose jazz arrangement that allowed her to riff on its familiar melody.

From New York Times

Related Words

• funereal
• melancholy
• mournful
• sad
• sorrowful