as in wail
a crying out in grief
there was a great lamentation on Wall Street when the government's latest unemployment figures were published
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Recent Examples of lamentation
Give us your final lamentations on this year’s crop of cancellations in a comment below.
—
Dave Nemetz, TVLine, 21 May 2025
Studio Nicholas Venezia In Janáček’s Quartet No. 1, the Takács ratcheted up the genre’s conversational quality into high drama, widening the expressive gulf between the opening lamentation and the skittering response.
—Justin Davidson, Vulture, 2 May 2025
One third of the way into Katie Kitamura’s 2017 novel, A Separation, its narrator asks an elderly Greek woman to demonstrate a traditional funeral lamentation.
—Lidija Haas, Harper's Magazine, 3 Mar. 2025
Biblical-style lamentations over Israel’s final corruption have been a staple of the state’s critics and die-hard anti-Zionists for 70 years.
—Martin Kramer, Foreign Affairs, 8 June 2016
See All Example Sentences for lamentation
Dave Nemetz, TVLine, 21 May 2025
Studio Nicholas Venezia In Janáček’s Quartet No. 1, the Takács ratcheted up the genre’s conversational quality into high drama, widening the expressive gulf between the opening lamentation and the skittering response.
—Justin Davidson, Vulture, 2 May 2025
One third of the way into Katie Kitamura’s 2017 novel, A Separation, its narrator asks an elderly Greek woman to demonstrate a traditional funeral lamentation.
—Lidija Haas, Harper's Magazine, 3 Mar. 2025
Biblical-style lamentations over Israel’s final corruption have been a staple of the state’s critics and die-hard anti-Zionists for 70 years.
—Martin Kramer, Foreign Affairs, 8 June 2016
See All Example Sentences for lamentation
Recent Examples of Synonyms for lamentation
Noun
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So, on the night after the murder, the town’s streets were filled with anguished cries from the Inuit—wails of loss and pain.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
28 Oct. 2025
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The electric version starts the same, but that plaintive wail sounds more like a call to mischief.—
Melissa Ruggieri,
USA Today,
24 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Her husband and young son joined her onstage in a tender surprise that brought many in the crowd to tears.—
Okla Jones,
Essence,
23 Oct. 2025
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What happened in the moments after is a memory that continues to bring tears Chupp's eyes.—
Natalia Senanayake,
PEOPLE,
23 Oct. 2025
Noun
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At the funeral for Pope Francis in April, Jill Biden, Queen Letizia of Spain, Princess Charlene of Monaco and Queen Rania of Jordan were among the high-profile royals and global dignitaries who wore mantillas with their mourning attire.—
Julia Teti,
Footwear News,
23 Oct. 2025
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Rain to rainbows The Annunciation community was in mourning and didn’t know how to proceed with its annual September Fest, set for three weeks after the shooting.—
Andy Greder,
Twin Cities,
23 Oct. 2025
Noun
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But a loss is a loss, 1-5 is 1-5, and McDaniel’s lament is pure truth.—
Miami Herald,
Miami Herald,
13 Oct. 2025
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The poem ends with the hero’s burial and the laments of his followers.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
10 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
The scared but resilient puppy cries as rescuers work to free her.—
Michael Nied,
PEOPLE,
24 Oct. 2025
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There were cries of overreach when the Guard was deployed to stem segregationist tension in Arkansas and Alabama in the 1950s and '60s.—
Newsweek Contributors,
MSNBC Newsweek,
22 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Budj Bim assigned the weeping she-oak (Casuarina) trees, whose whispering voices can be heard in the wind, to be the guardian spirits of the landscape.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
22 Oct. 2025
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The goal is Keyshawn’s eventual weeping breakdown.—
Helen Shaw,
New Yorker,
20 Oct. 2025
Noun
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The beauty of rock ‘n’ roll is repetition, the beauty of repetition and the groan and the groove and the communication of the words.—
Gary Graff,
Billboard,
23 Oct. 2025
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Mbeumo misplaces a pass as United attack and his family groan before dissecting the move.—
Charlotte Harpur,
New York Times,
16 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Frehley picks up on the drummer’s simmering syncopation hereand unleashes a banshee-like howl of a solo that still clings to the band’s rhythm.—
A.D. Amorosi,
Variety,
17 Oct. 2025
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The long recess has drawn howls of protest from Democratic leaders, who have returned to Washington to demand negotiations that might lead to a bipartisan spending bill that could reopen the government.—
Mike Lillis,
The Hill,
10 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Lamentation.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/lamentation. Accessed 29 Oct. 2025.
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