All 5 Uses of
plaintive
in
Gone with the Wind
- The mockingbirds and the jays, engaged in their old feud for possession of the magnolia tree beneath her window, were bickering, the jays strident, acrimonious, the mockers sweet voiced and plaintive.†
Chpt 1.5 *
- Nightly the dark tree-lined streets resounded with dancing feet, and from parlors tinkled pianos where soprano voices blended with those of soldier guests in the pleasing melancholy of "The Bugles Sang Truce" and "Your Letter Came, but Came Too Late"—plaintive ballads that brought exciting tears to soft eyes which had never known the tears of real grief.†
Chpt 2.8
- Prissy rolled her eyes wildly, peeping first at the set face of her mistress and then at the cow which bawled plaintively.†
Chpt 3.24
- For a timeless moment she stood there and in the still hot hush of the summer morning every irrelevant sound and scent seemed magnified, the quick thudding of her heart, like a drumbeat, the slight rough rustling of the magnolia leaves, the far-off plaintive sound of a swamp bird and the sweet smell of the flowers outside the window.†
Chpt 3.26
- Uncle Peter's voice came as from a far distance, plaintive, placating.†
Chpt 3.30
Definition:
-
(plaintive) expressing sadness -- sometimes with a plea for help