of or composed in dactylic-hexameter couplets, the second line (sometimes called a pentameter) having only an accented syllable in the third and sixth feet: the form was used for elegies and various other lyric poems
2.
of, like, or fit for an elegy
3.
sad; mournful; plaintive
: Also ˌeleˈgiacal (ˌɛləˈdʒaɪəkəl)
noun
4.
an elegiac couplet
5. [pl.]
a series of such couplets; poem or poems written in such couplets
Word origin
LL elegiacus < Gr elegeiakos < elegeia: see elegy
Examples of 'elegiac' in a sentence
elegiac
There is something of an elegiac quality about his substantial book on magazine design.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
The writings of these historians sometimes acquired an elegiac quality.
The Times Literary Supplement (2014)
We have become used to speaking of the old religions in an elegiac mode.
The Times Literary Supplement (2012)
The room has an elegiac quality.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
Her photographs, though in one sense a documentary of her life, have an elegiac quality.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
Things are more sombre and serious in the second half, giving way to a darker, more elegiac mood.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
(adjective)
Definition
sad, mournful, or plaintive
(literary)
The music has a dreamy, elegiac quality.
Synonyms
lamenting
sad
The loss left me feeling sad and empty.
melancholy
It was at this time of day that I felt most melancholy.
nostalgic
mournful
the mournful wail of bagpipes
plaintive
Her voice was small and plaintive.
melancholic
sorrowful
His father's face looked suddenly soft and sorrowful.
funereal
He addressed the group in funereal tones.
valedictory
keening
dirgeful
threnodial
threnodic
Additional synonyms
in the sense of funereal
Definition
suggestive of a funeral
He addressed the group in funereal tones.
Synonyms
gloomy,
dark,
sad,
grave,
depressing,
dismal,
lamenting,
solemn,
dreary,
sombre,
woeful,
mournful,
lugubrious,
sepulchral,
dirge-like,
deathlike
in the sense of melancholy
Definition
characterized by, causing, or expressing sadness
It was at this time of day that I felt most melancholy.
Synonyms
sad,
down,
depressed,
unhappy,
low,
blue,
miserable,
moody,
gloomy,
dismal,
sombre,
woeful,
glum,
mournful,
dejected,
despondent,
dispirited,
melancholic,
downcast,
lugubrious,
pensive,
sorrowful,
disconsolate,
joyless,
doleful,
downhearted,
heavy-hearted,
down in the dumps (informal),
woebegone,
down in the mouth,
low-spirited
in the sense of mournful
Definition
(of a sound) suggestive or reminiscent of grief or sadness