elegiac
/ˌɛlɪˈd͡ʒaɪək/US/ˌɛləˈd͡ʒaɪək/
elegiac adjective: of or relating to an elegy.
Adjective
elegiac (comparative more elegiac, superlative most elegiac)
- Of or relating to an elegy.
- the elegiac distich or couplet, consisting of a dactylic hexameter and pentameter
- Expressing sorrow or mourning.
- Hast thou no elegiac verse / For Brunswick's venerable hearse, / What! not a line, a tear, a sigh, / When valour bleeds for liberty?1808 February 22, Walter Scott, “Introduction to Canto Third: To William Erskine, Esq.”, in Marmion; a Tale of Flodden Field, Edinburgh: […] J[ames] Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and...
- And elegiac griefs, and songs of love,1856, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, “First Book”, in Aurora Leigh, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1857, →OCLC, page 36
- Synonyms:
- sorrowful, mournful, atrabiliary, atrabilious, blitheless, dispirited, blue, bummed out, chapfallen, cheerless
Noun
elegiac (plural elegiacs)
- A poem composed in the couplet style of classical elegies: a line of dactylic hexameter followed by a line of dactylic pentameter.
- His saphics are worse, if possible, than his elegiacs1748, John Upton, Critical Observations on Shakespeare, 2nd edition, page 385
elegiac meaning in Malayalam
elegiac in Malayalam
- വിലപിക്കുന്ന, ശോകപൂർണ്ണമായ
Synonyms of elegiac
- sorrowful
- mournful
- atrabiliary
- atrabilious
- blitheless
- dispirited
- blue
- bummed out
- chapfallen
- cheerless
30 more synonymsFewer synonyms
- chopfallen
- crestfallen
- cut up
- damp
- dejected
- depressed
- despondent
- disgruntled
- disconsolate
- disheartened
- dismal
- doleful
- dolesome
- down
- down in the dumps
- down in the mouth
- downcast
- downhearted
- downsome
- dull
- elegious
- forlorn
- gloomy
- glum
- grief-stricken
- grieving
- heavy-hearted
- heartsore
- heartsick
- inconsolable
Forms of elegiac
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | more elegiac |
| superlative | most elegiac |
| alternative form | elegaic |
| Noun | |
| plural | elegiacs |
Origin of elegiac
From Middle French élégiaque, from Latin elegīacus, from Ancient Greek ἐλεγειακός (elegeiakós).
Words formed from elegiac
- elegiacal
- elegiacally
- elegiac couplet
- elegiac pentameter
- unelegiac
Questions about elegiac
- What does elegiac mean?
- Elegiac means of or relating to an elegy.
- What is elegiac in Malayalam?
- Elegiac in Malayalam is വിലപിക്കുന്ന, ശോകപൂർണ്ണമായ. See Elegiac meaning in Malayalam.
- What part of speech is elegiac?
- Elegiac can be an adjective or a noun.
- How do you pronounce elegiac?
- Elegiac is pronounced /ˌɛlɪˈd͡ʒaɪək/ (UK).
Words near elegiac in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: elegiac (page history and authors); elegiac (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-elegiac.wav.
Cite this entry: “elegiac.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/elegiac. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.