Plangent — Meaning, Definition & Synonyms

Plangent (adjective) — Senses, Synonyms & Antonyms

1. expressing or suggesting mourning

   "a plangent, haunting song about a long-ago love"

   similar: aching, agonized, anguished, bemoaning, bewailing, bitter, deploring, doleful, dolesome, dolorous, funeral, grieving, heartbroken, lamentable, lugubrious, mournful, plaintive, regretful, rueful, sorrowful, sorry, wailing, weeping, woeful
   related: dirgelike, elegiac, melancholy, dejected, depressed, despondent, disconsolate, dispirited, downcast, downhearted, heartsick, heartsore, inconsolable, tearful, brokenhearted, careworn, crestfallen, forlorn, gloomy, glum, low-spirited, miserable, sad, triste, unhappy, woebegone, bawling, crying, groaning, howling, keening, moaning, yammering, bleeding, suffering, black, bleak, cheerless, comfortless, dark, darkening, desolate, dismal, dreary, funereal, gray, joyless, low, moody, morbid, morose, pathetic, pessimistic, piteous, saturnine, somber, sullen, wretched
   near: delighted, exulting, glorying, happy, joyful, rejoicing, triumphant, bright, cheerful, cheering, cheery, laughing, smiling, blissful, blithe, blithesome, buoyant, jocund, jolly, joyous, lighthearted, merry, mirthful, encouraging, hopeful, optimistic, ecstatic, elated, euphoric, exhilarated, giddy, heady, rapturous, rhapsodic

2. marked by a high volume of sound

   "plangent organ music filled the church"

   similar: blaring, blasting, booming, clamorous, clangorous, deafening, earsplitting, loud, piercing, resounding, ringing, roaring, slam-bang, sonorous, stentorian, thundering, thunderous
   related: brazen, dinning, discordant, noisy, obstreperous, raucous, rip-roaring, vociferous, grating, harsh, overloud, sharp, shrill, squealing, strident
   opposite: gentle, low, soft
   near: dead, quiet, silent, still, stilly, ultraquiet, calm, dreamy, peaceful, restful, serene, soothing, tranquil, hushed, muffled, muted, softened, toned (down)

3. marked by conspicuously full and rich sounds or tones

   "the strong, plangent tones of a Louis Armstrong trumpet solo"

   similar: golden, orotund, resonant, resounding, reverberant, reverberating, reverberative, ringing, rotund, round, sonorous, vibrant
   related: deep, full, mellifluent, mellifluous, mellow, plummy, rich, loud, powerful, stentorian, thundering, thunderous
   near: cavernous, hollow, faint, low, murmurous, muted, smothered, soft, weak, thin, tinny