plaintivelyadv.
/ˈpleɪntᵻvli/, U.S. /ˈpleɪn(t)ᵻvli/ In a plaintive manner; sadly, mournfully; with a sorrowful sound.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > suffering > sorrow or grief > lamentation or expression of grief > [adverb]
sorelyc888
yomerlya1000
yomerea1250
ruthlya1400
mourninglya1425
sorrowinglya1425
lamentably1470
in sackcloth and ashes1526
tragically1567
plaintively1593
lamentinglyc1610
bemoaningly1646
complainingly1816
deploringly1847
sighfully1900
1593 A. Chute Beawtie Dishonoured 39 But stay thee here, and plaintiu'ly rehearce, The funerall tenor of thine after fortunes.
1596 F. Sabie Olde Worldes Trag. in Adams Complaint sig. Ev O then on earth was heard a piteous crie, Men crying out, beasts roaring plaintiuely.
1731 I. Thomson Coll. of Poems i. ii. 70 For Peggy, my fair one, is gone, She's gone, and has left me behind; Where plaintively lying alone, I joyn the sad whispering Wind.
1797 A. Radcliffe Italian I. xi. 305 So sweetly, so plaintively, did the strain grow on the air.
1812 B. Barton Metrical Effusions 108 And now, with many a piercing cry, She mourn'd her loss most plaintively.
1875 B. Jowett tr. Plato Dialogues (ed. 2) III. 195 They tell you plaintively of how many evils their old age is the cause.
1926 J. Devanny Butcher Shop xviii. 223 She pressed his hand against her cheek and smiled so plaintively and sweetly that Ian felt a brute.
1988 M. Gardiner Scatter of Memories 119 ‘What's the matter, Stevie?’ I asked. ‘Why haven't you gone to bed?’ ‘There was nobody to warm my milk,’ she said plaintively.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2006; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adv.1593