From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishmournfulmourn‧ful /ˈmɔːnfəl $ ˈmɔːrn-/ adjective SAD/UNHAPPYvery sad Durant was thin, mournful and silent. the slow, mournful music of the bagpipes► see thesaurus at sad —mournfully adverb
Examples from the Corpus
mournful• She even seems to root for him, in a mournful and bitter way.• He was at the graveside looking mournful and interesting.• Beneath her the river snaked silver amongst the rushes and meadowsweet and a buzzard circling on high gave its own mournful cry.• I imagined him pulling mournful drones out of the ancient double-reed pipe.• The dog lay at his feet, looking up from time to time with big mournful eyes.• I could hear the slow, mournful music of the bagpipes.• slow, mournful music• He ate his tiny ration of cereal in mournful slow motion, to illustrate his unhappiness.• You get these crackpot ideas about helping people who come along to you with a mournful tale.• His voice sounded so mournful that tears came into her eyes.• And their public comments had a mournful tone. 