plaintively
In sorrowful tones
In a manner expressing sorrow or melancholy, often with a note of complaint or longing: The dog whined plaintively at the door.
The word suggests a gentle, wistful sadness rather than dramatic grief—a child asking plaintively why they can't stay up later, a violin passage that sounds plaintively through the hall.
Urgent heartfelt request
- imploringUrgently requesting with emotion
- entreatyEarnest, urgent request
- supplicationHumble plea for help
- beggingEarnest desperate requesting
appeal · petitioning · desperate · urgent · earnest · prayerful · requesting · invoking
Filled with grief
- grievingFeeling sorrow after loss
- lamentingExpressing passionate grief
- woefulExtremely sad or pitiful
- anguishedSeverely emotionally distressed
tearful · weeping · heartbroken · bereaved · doleful · elegiac · keening · wailing
Intense, persistent desire
- yearningIntense prolonged craving
- piningAching with prolonged desire
- nostalgicLonging for the past
- melancholicInclined toward reflective sorrow
forlorn · pensive · sighing · rueful · bittersweet · regretful · aching · languishing
pleading
Urgent heartfelt request
- imploringUrgently requesting with emotion
- entreatyEarnest, urgent request
- supplicationHumble plea for help
begging · appeal · petitioning · desperate · urgent · earnest · prayerful · requesting · invoking · crying out
sorrowful
Filled with grief
anguished · tearful · weeping · heartbroken · bereaved · doleful · elegiac · keening · wailing · dirge
longing
Intense, persistent desire
melancholic · forlorn · pensive · sighing · rueful · bittersweet · regretful · aching · languishing · wishful
pitiable
Deserving sympathetic sorrow
- piteousArousing sorrowful compassion
- heartrendingCausing overwhelming grief
- poignantEvoking keen emotion
moving · touching · affecting · woebegone · forlorn · helpless · vulnerable · childlike · quavering · trembling
plaintivelyboldly
With fearless confidence
confidently · assertively · commandingly · forcefully · authoritatively