bemoan

verb

be·moan bi-ˈmōn

bē-

bemoaned; bemoaning; bemoans

transitive verb

: to express deep grief or distress over

bemoan the death of their leader

: to regard with displeasure, disapproval, or regret

bemoaning the lack of civility in modern political discourse

Choose the Right Synonym for bemoan

deplore, lament, bewail, bemoan mean to express grief or sorrow for something.

deplore implies regret for the loss or impairment of something of value.

deplores the breakdown in family values

lament implies a profound or demonstrative expression of sorrow.

lamenting the loss of their only child

bewail and bemoan imply sorrow, disappointment, or protest finding outlet in words or cries, bewail commonly suggesting loudness, and bemoan lugubriousness.

fans bewailed the defeat

purists bemoaning the corruption of the language

Example Sentences

He bemoans the fact that the team lost again. an article bemoaning the decline in voter turnout Some critics are always bemoaning the state of the language.

Recent Examples on the Web Those quotes commonly bemoan the party’s sagging fortunes.

Erik Wemple, Washington Post, 22 Nov. 2022 The result, though, is an oft-confusing, multi-step buying process plagued with additional fees that fans bemoan.

Alicia Adamczyk, Fortune, 10 Nov. 2022 When the city folks bemoan the slippery roads and crash into each other, the rest of us only have the exorbitant fuel prices that limit our mobility.

John Schandelmeier, Anchorage Daily News, 9 Oct. 2022 Red Pill forums on the Internet have become a place where mostly white, mostly straight men air misogynistic views on women and bemoan their diminishing status in society.

Eliana Dockterman, Time, 23 Sep. 2022 Privately, one vintner may bemoan his neighbor’s choices, but that’s his problem.

Esther Mobley, San Francisco Chronicle, 27 Oct. 2022 Those who bemoan the hollow predictability of a music career engineered on TikTok seem to forget that human disorder tends to creep in regardless.

Carrie Battan, The New Yorker, 3 Oct. 2022 But the fact that so many observers bemoan this failure suggests that the vacuum the January 6 hearing failed to fill should have been filled by others.

Jason Linkins, The New Republic, 22 Oct. 2022 As in a game when the Heat were left to bemoan a defense that looked nothing like the whirlwind that helped lift them to the conference’s best record last season.

Ira Winderman, Sun Sentinel, 20 Oct. 2022 See More

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'bemoan.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.