lamentable
/ˈlaməntəb(ə)l
/adjective
1(Of circumstances or conditions) very bad; deplorable: the industry is in a lamentable state...
- If we take a step back, we can see that only government could have brought us to this lamentable condition.
- I idly went back to the archives for last January and read with amusement my musings about my lamentable inability to keep my desk clean or to engage in other seemingly modest self-improvement projects.
- Aside from their palpable defensive frailties there was a lamentable lack of inspiration in midfield, whilst upfront John Sutton and Lovell mostly toiled in inglorious isolation.
1.1(Of an event, action, or attitude) unfortunate; regrettable: her open prejudice showed lamentable immaturity...
- Once again, Danae's impregnation by gold is presented as a desirable rather than lamentable event in this comic context.
- Biodiversity is already perfectly adequate without our needing to create novel life forms, unneeded for nutrition and unwelcome in the marketplace, to correct God's lamentable oversights.
- This would be a lamentable end for such an illustrious name and would bring no pleasure to anyone in Scotland.
Synonyms
deplorable, regrettable, tragic, terrible, awful, wretched, woeful, sorrowful, unfortunate, distressing, grievous, dire, disastrous, calamitous, desperate, grave, appalling, dreadful;
intolerable, ignominious, pitiful, shameful
rare egregious
2 archaic Full of or expressing sorrow or grief: the lamentable friends, trailing their long black garments
Derivatives
lamentably
/ adverb [as submodifier]: she was lamentably ignorant...
- It's true that Villarreal had been warned repeatedly that an invasion was coming from Glasgow and it seems obvious that their security arrangements were lamentably inadequate.
- The Federal Emergency Management Agency lamentably failed to organise the evacuation of the most vulnerable before the hurricane struck or to establish basic command-and-control five days into the disaster.
- Disappointingly, while good-value boutique properties have sprung up across the UK in the past few years, London - our favourite destination for a weekend break - remains lamentably lacking in this category.
Origin
Late Middle English (in the sense 'mournful', also 'pitiable, regrettable'): from Old French, or from Latin lamentabilis, from the verb lamentari (see lament).