elegiac

adjective

ele·​gi·​ac ˌe-lə-ˈjī-ək 

-ˌak,

 also  i-ˈlē-jē-ˌak

variants or less commonly elegiacal

ˌe-lə-ˈjī-ə-kəl 

1

a

: of, relating to, or consisting of two dactylic hexameter lines the second of which lacks the arsis in the third and sixth feet

b(1)

: written in or consisting of elegiac couplets

(2)

: noted for having written poetry in such couplets

c

: of or relating to the period in Greece about the seventh century b.c. when poetry written in such couplets flourished

2

: of, relating to, or comprising elegy or an elegy

especially : expressing sorrow often for something now past

an elegiac lament for departed youth

elegiac noun

elegiacally

ˌe-lə-ˈjī-ə-k(ə-)lē 

adverb

Did you know?

Elegiac was borrowed into English in the 16th century from Late Latin elagiacus, which in turn derives from Greek elegeiakos. Elegeiakos traces back to the Greek word for "elegiac couplet," which was elegeion. It is no surprise, then, that the earliest meaning of elegiac referred to such poetic couplets. These days, of course, the word is also used to describe anything sorrowful or nostalgic. As you may have guessed, another descendant of elegeion in English is elegy, which in its oldest sense refers to a poem in elegiac couplets, and now can equally refer to a somewhat broader range of laments for something or someone that is now lost.

Synonyms

• black
• bleak
• cheerless
• chill
• Cimmerian
• cloudy
• cold
• comfortless
• dark
• darkening
• depressing
• depressive
• desolate
• dire
• disconsolate
• dismal
• drear
• dreary
• dreich [chiefly Scottish]
• forlorn
• funereal
• gloomy
• glum
• godforsaken
• gray
• grey
• lonely
• lonesome
• lugubrious
• miserable
• morbid
• morose
• murky
• plutonian
• saturnine
• sepulchral
• solemn
• somber
• sombre
• sullen
• sunless
• tenebrific
• tenebrous
• wretched

Examples of elegiac in a Sentence

the sight of an old ruined church or castle can be a pleasantly elegiac experience

Recent Examples on the Web

McAlpine’s work was funny and forthright, but also vaguely elegiac. —Amanda Petrusich, The New Yorker, 17 June 2024

In elegiac prose woven with humor, imagination, sensuality, and tragedy, Henry Hoke’s Open Throat is a marvel of storytelling, a universal journey through a wondrous and menacing world told by a lovable mountain lion. —Sarah Yang, Sunset Magazine, 17 June 2024

In this elegiac history, Joyce presents a painstaking account of a way of life to which, until recently, the vast majority of humanity was bound. —The New Yorker, 12 June 2024

Dolores Claiborne is the masterpiece, but her genesis can be traced back to this elegiac story of a 95-year-old Stella Flanders, who has never once crossed to the mainland from her island home. —Neil McRobert, Vulture, 20 May 2024

Word History

Etymology

Late Latin elegiacus, from Greek elegeiakos, from elegeion

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 2

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