elegiac

[ el-i-jahy-uh k, -ak, ih-lee-jee-ak ]
/ ˌɛl ɪˈdʒaɪ ək, -æk, ɪˈli dʒiˌæk /

adjective Also el·e·gi·a·cal.

used in, suitable for, or resembling an elegy.
expressing sorrow or lamentation: elegiac strains.
Classical Prosody. noting a distich or couplet the first line of which is a dactylic hexameter and the second a pentameter, or a verse differing from the hexameter by suppression of the arsis or metrically unaccented part of the third and the sixth foot.

noun

an elegiac or distich verse.
a poem in such distichs or verses.

Origin of elegiac

1575–85; (< Middle French) < Latin elegīacus < Greek elegeiakós. See elegy, -ac

OTHER WORDS FROM elegiac

el·e·gi·a·cal·ly, adverb

Example sentences from the Web for elegiac

British Dictionary definitions for elegiac

elegiac
/ (ˌɛlɪˈdʒaɪək) /

adjective

resembling, characteristic of, relating to, or appropriate to an elegy
lamenting; mournful; plaintive
denoting or written in elegiac couplets or elegiac stanzas

noun

(often plural) an elegiac couplet or stanza

Derived forms of elegiac

elegiacally, adverb