Definition of "plaintive" []

• Expressing sorrow; mournful or melancholy. (adjective)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "The boys nearest the dragonet tried to anticipate his direction, hoping to Impress him, but he lurched out of their immediate circle, staggering across the sands, his call plaintive, desperate until the next group of boys turned."
• "Akka from Kebnekaise! they cried in plaintive tones."
• "First her sweet voice in plaintive accents chains*"