How to Use plaintive in a Sentence

plaintive

adjective
  • We could hear the plaintive cry of a wounded animal in the woods.
  • His voice is very high and plaintive.
    — Katie Bain, Billboard, 3 Sep. 2019
  • His voice lived in contrast to his body, small and plaintive.
    — Lena Dunham, Vogue, 18 Mar. 2019
  • Her heart hammered away, her eyes flickered, and her voice grew tiny and plaintive.
    — Will MacKin, New Yorker, 28 June 2026
  • Common loons live on Maine’s lakes and ponds and are known for their plaintive call.
    — USA TODAY, 9 Jan. 2020
  • Cardinals and robins chirp their plaintive love calls from trees on the inland side.
    — BostonGlobe.com, 28 Apr. 2021
  • This is such a plaintive, nonbitter breakup song—every line is good.
    — Glamour, 11 Feb. 2020
  • Park’s plaintive gamer-vampire is witty, too.
    — Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune, 16 June 2026
  • The electric version starts the same, but that plaintive wail sounds more like a call to mischief.
    — Melissa Ruggieri, USA Today, 24 Oct. 2025
  • Nuthatches sound like a squeak toy, for instance, and chickadees have a plaintive call.
    — Jo Ellen Meyers Sharp, Indianapolis Star, 17 Dec. 2017
  • Zelenskyy made a plaintive statement about the state of play.
    — Democrat-Gazette Staff From Wire Reports, arkansasonline.com, 15 Feb. 2025
  • That’s because the sound that alerts them to an attack isn’t the plaintive voice of the victim.
    — Elin Kelsey, Smithsonian, 18 Aug. 2017
  • Of the two, Taylor has the warmer and more reedy voice, Browne the more plaintive.
    — George Varga, San Diego Union-Tribune, 24 Oct. 2021
  • Jeff Flake of Arizona penned a plaintive tweet about the dismissal.
    — Jeff Stein, Newsweek, 10 May 2017
  • A day after news of the suit broke, Gaines tweeted a plaintive Bible verse.
    — Kaitlin Menza, Country Living, 28 Apr. 2017
  • Inslee said, his voice rising in one of the debate’s most plaintive moments.
    — Matt Pearce, Los Angeles Times, 21 Aug. 2019
  • Carrabba's expressive voice and plaintive lyrics are both the constant and the key.
    — Chuck Yarborough, cleveland.com, 26 Mar. 2018
  • Caesar was defiant at first, then plaintive.
    — David Denby, New Yorker, 10 Nov. 2025
  • The plaintive melodies are mournful yet comforting.
    — Michelle F. Solomon, Miami Herald, 12 May 2026
  • The record includes generic corn too, which even Langley’s plaintive voice can’t save.
    — The Week Us, TheWeek, 21 Apr. 2026
  • With his plaintive gaze and sonorous voice, the actor brings a wonderful blend of humor and empathy to the role.
    — Kristen Baldwin, EW.com, 13 Dec. 2022
  • Her voice was beautiful and plaintive with the story of her blackness and womanness.
    — Tunde Wey, San Francisco Chronicle, 15 Dec. 2017
  • Abela’s plaintive demeanor and wide, open face makes for a much more vulnerable and softer Amy.
    — Sophie Wilkinson, Vogue, 16 Apr. 2024
  • But these songs took on a new feel—plaintive, yearning cries filling up a bright room somewhere unreachable across the country.
    — Hua Hsu, The New Yorker, 17 Apr. 2020
  • As Wyda made her plaintive phone calls, the first grim foreboding of what was ahead for the nursing home appeared.
    — Glenn Garvin, miamiherald, 22 Sep. 2017
  • This plaintive cry is not new, at least to anyone who has paid attention to Jewish debate in the last decade or more.
    — Jane Eisner, Washington Post, 19 Oct. 2022
  • The lack of outreach prompted him to co-write an article with two other local rabbis which struck a plaintive tone.
    — Eyal Press, New Yorker, 30 Mar. 2026
  • Anne and her husband are in Cannes; and the movie suggests, through Lane’s plaintive little glances, that all is not well.
    — Mick Lasalle, star-telegram.com, 25 May 2017
  • This is a plaintive group date, because Jason, Wills, and Leo are clearly such good friends.
    — Rebecca Farley, refinery29.com, 10 July 2018
  • Michelle is a singer who’s recorded a plaintive lullaby, learned from her mother, that the group intends to film on their trip into the desert.
    — K. Austin Collins, Rolling Stone, 9 Feb. 2023

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'plaintive.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Last Updated: