lachrymose

English

WOTD – 20 July 2006

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin lacrimōsus, from lacrima (“tear”) + -osus (“-ful”), from Old Latin dacrima, from Proto-Indo-European *dakru-, cognate with English tear.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlæk.ɹɪ.moʊs/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Adjective

lachrymose (comparative more lachrymose, superlative most lachrymose)

1. Tearful, sorrowful, sad, pertaining to tears, weeping, causing tears or crying.

   Synonyms: miserable, unhappy; see also Thesaurus:sad

   • 1927, Thornton Wilder, The Bridge of San Luis Rey, page 69:

     It is true that Limeans were given to interpolating trivial songs into the most exquisite comedies and some lachrymose effects into the austerest music; but at least they never submitted to the boredom of a misplaced veneration.

Derived terms

• lachrymatory
• lachrymosely
• lachrymoseness
• lachrymosity
• unlachrymose

Translations

tearful; causing tears

Arabic: بكّاء (ar) m Bulgarian: сълзлив (bg) (sǎlzliv), плачещ (bg) (plačešt) Chinese: Mandarin: 催泪的 (cuīlèide) Dutch: aangrijpend (nl), treurig (nl), intriest (nl) Finnish: itkuinen (fi), kyynelehtivä (fi) (tearful), itkettävä (fi) (causing tears) French: lacrymal (fr) Friulian: lagrimôs German: ergreifend (de), traurig (de), nahe gehend Italian: lacrimoso Maori: matawai, matawaia Polish: łzawy (pl), płaczliwy (pl) Portuguese: lacrimoso (pt) Romanian: lăcrimos (ro) Russian: плакси́вый (ru) (plaksívyj), слезли́вый (ru) (slezlívyj) Spanish: lacrimoso, lacrimógeno Swedish: tårfylld (sv), gråtmild (sv), sorglig (sv) Turkish: ağlamaklı (tr) (tearful), ağlatan (causing tears) Welsh: dagreuol (cy), wylofus