I've actually mistaken my Siamese's plaintive yowls for my own baby before.
That's too bad, because despite her plaintive plea, she ought to be judged.
Her voice, by turns plaintive and coaxing, is distorted to resemble a man's.
Also, a good mispronounciation came to me: plane-ta-tive instead of plaintive.
Modern poetry can be plaintive or richly idiomatic, or both.
Wandering like a plaintive shadow about the places where I dwell.
The boy sings in plaintive tones with sweeping string backgrounds and augmented choral effects.
The online posts appear earnest, but not plaintive.
That plaintive comment is echoing from coast to coast.
Much of this music was melodically plaintive.
British Dictionary definitions for plaintive
plaintive
/ˈpleɪntɪv/
adjective
1.
expressing melancholy; mournful
Derived Forms
plaintively, adverb plaintiveness, noun
Word Origin
C14: from Old French plaintif grieving, from plainteplaint
Word Origin and History for plaintive
adj.
late 14c., "lamenting," from Old French plaintif "complaining; wretched, miserable," from plainte (see plaint). Sense of "mournful, sad" first recorded 1570s. Related: Plaintively; plaintiveness.