Plaintively

adv

adv ·3 syllables ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Adverb
  1. 1
    In a plaintive manner.
Adverb
  1. 1
    in a plaintive manner wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
brokenheartedlycomplaininglydolefullydolorouslyfretfullygrieffully

Example

More examples

"The dog scratched at the back door and whined plaintively, hoping someone would let him in the house."

Etymology

From plaintive + -ly.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.