Words / C2

PLANJ-uh-nt/ˈplændʒənt/

Plangent means loud, deep, and mournfully resonant (literary): a plangent cry, plangent music. Loud (already in the dictionary) is everyday volume; sad (already in the dictionary) is everyday unhappy. Plaintive (already in the dictionary) is sad and mournful in tone; doleful, elegiac, and dolorous (already in the dictionary) are mournful of look, wistful for the past, and sorrowful. This batch: jocular is humorous — the opposite flavour. Foyer music is not a sitting close.

Meaning

Loud, deep, and mournfully resonant (literary).

Examples

• “Plangent music in the foyer is not a sitting close.”
• “Loud is everyday volume (already in A1). Sad is everyday unhappy (already in A1). Plaintive is sad and mournful in tone (already in C1). Doleful is mournful in look (already in C2). Elegiac is wistfully mournful (already in C2). Dolorous is sorrowful (already in C2). Jocular is humorous (this batch) — the contrast. Atmosphere on the night can be exact. Atmosphere instead of a close is theatre. Write the minute; then the dirge.”

Good to know

Loud and mournfully resonant (literary). Everyday: loud / sad (already in this dictionary). Close: plaintive (already in C1); doleful / elegiac / dolorous (already in C2). This batch: jocular (the contrast). Music ≠ a close.

Near in meaning

mournful, resonant, plaintive, dolorous

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