dirge

as in lament
a composition expressing one's grief over a loss bagpipes played a haunting dirge at the funeral for the fallen leader

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of dirge Women in black mourning weeds gathered and hummed dirges. Tony Perrottet, Smithsonian Magazine, 27 Mar. 2024 What follows is a haunting collection of dirges and hymns that fuses the high points of his career: the symphonic pomp of 2005's Illinois, the electronic maximalism of 2010's The Age of Adz, and the spartan folk of 2015's Carrie & Lowell, a work inspired by the death of his mother. Jason Lamphier, EW.com, 13 Dec. 2023 The drums of failure beat a sharp, staccato dirge in Siran's mind. Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 7 Sep. 2023 The former is both a dirge and a monument for the victims of the bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham. The New Yorker, 25 Dec. 2023 See All Example Sentences for dirge
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dirge
Noun
  • Lyft drivers lament: Getting driven around Indianapolis revealed a painful truth.
    Troy Renck, The Denver Post, 1 Mar. 2025
  • In it, the cast involved laments not being able to do their own Challengers bit with Only Murders in the Building stars Steve Martin and Martin Short (now a first-time SAG awardee for the role).
    Natalie Oganesyan, Deadline, 23 Feb. 2025
Noun
  • In fact, the opening moments play out like an elegy for the whole nation: a school boarded up, with empty corridors and empty classrooms.
    Damon Wise, Deadline, 20 Feb. 2025
  • As photographed by Austin Shelton, the widescreen images — and even the vertical TikTok videos braided alongside — convey a hopeful vision of their future, more fresh start than elegy.
    Peter Debruge, Variety, 6 Feb. 2025
Noun
  • The funeral procession begins with a sorrowful requiem but transitions into a celebration of life — reminding us that life extends beyond death, that grief is not the absence of love but an extension of it.
    Mathew Holloway, San Diego Union-Tribune, 23 Feb. 2025
  • Column Plug Two Rollie Pemberton A requiem for Trugoy and a rebirth for De La Soul.
    Max Ufberg, hazlitt.net, 10 Jan. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Dirge.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dirge. Accessed 12 Mar. 2025.

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