variants
also elegiacal
as in somber
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
Kim Willis, USA Today, 27 Feb. 2026
Whether set in Jewish eastern Europe or New York’s Lower East Side, Shtok’s range is on full display, from gossipy melodramas and elegiac reveries to coming of age portraits of shtetl adolescents and immigrant hustlers.
—Literary Hub, 22 Jan. 2026
Naomi Fry, New Yorker, 21 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for elegiac
Adjective
But only one of them felt moved to memorialize the King in an elegiac poem.
—Kim Willis, USA Today, 27 Feb. 2026
Whether set in Jewish eastern Europe or New York’s Lower East Side, Shtok’s range is on full display, from gossipy melodramas and elegiac reveries to coming of age portraits of shtetl adolescents and immigrant hustlers.
—Literary Hub, 22 Jan. 2026
Noun
There’s also something a little elegiac about it.
—Naomi Fry, New Yorker, 21 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for elegiac
Recent Examples of Synonyms for elegiac
Adjective
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The festivities have even spread to other countries, but the day remains a somber affair in Mexico.—
Jay R. Brooks,
Mercury News,
30 Apr. 2026
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Despite his somber introduction, this version of Creasy doesn’t earn the character’s darker choices.—
Ben Travers,
IndieWire,
30 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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At first glance, AI companions for lonely seniors can seem dystopian, looking less like innovation than a bleak sign of social failure.—
Catherine Thorbecke,
Twin Cities,
25 Apr. 2026
-
Things are impossibly bleak for the Rockets, which were without Kevin Durant for the second game this series.—
Dan Santaromita,
New York Times,
25 Apr. 2026
Noun
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To say an elegy by heart/to zero our dying before birth.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
1 Apr. 2026
-
The show, a sort of elegy for Gen X, opens with a flash-forward to July 16, 1999, the final hours of Carolyn and John.—
Doreen St. Félix,
New Yorker,
14 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Inspired by the most recent decade of killings of unarmed Black men by police, the seven prints selected from Henry’s series draw upon the sculptural pathos and solemn formalities of Michelangelo’s Pietà di San Pietro.—
Horace D. Ballard,
Artforum,
22 Apr. 2026
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While it’s meant to be a solemn moment, was that uncomfortable for you as a comedian?—
Stuart Miller,
Los Angeles Times,
22 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Trump taps into racist sentiments by depicting the Obamas as apes.—
Gary Franks,
Hartford Courant,
26 Apr. 2026
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No nurse had been responsible for the procedures involved in this care, including intubation, chest tubes, umbilical central lines, lumbar punctures, ventricular taps, and more.—
Dawn Zuidgeest-Craft,
STAT,
24 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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This level of security is a depressing necessity in modern-day Britain.—
Alexander Smith,
NBC news,
1 May 2026
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The movie is simultaneously more depressing than the original and more saccharine, with a repellent amount of affection between characters who should know better.—
Amy Nicholson,
Los Angeles Times,
29 Apr. 2026
Noun
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The pioneering alt-country band returns with its first album in 30 years—a set of cryptic, languid dirges that feels defiantly out-of-time.—
Zach Schonfeld,
Pitchfork,
17 Apr. 2026
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Swedish singer-composer Anna von Hausswolff, whose cathedral melodies, intense vocals and doom-laden dirges share much in common with Nordic heavy-metal culture, specializes in mystery and grandiosity.—
Bob Gendron,
Chicago Tribune,
9 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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But what exactly happens to these baby stars next isn't always clear (literally) because they are buried deep within clouds of dark, dusty gas that obscure them.—
Keith Cooper,
Space.com,
28 Apr. 2026
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All the bedrooms can be found upstairs, including one that’s currently being used as an office and a primary suite flaunting dual dressing rooms and baths, plus a sauna clad in dark gray stone.—
Wendy Bowman,
Robb Report,
28 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Elegiac.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/elegiac. Accessed 2 May. 2026.
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