DIRGE Synonyms: 11 Similar and Opposite Words

dirge

noun

ˈdərj

Definition of dirge

as in lament

a composition expressing one's grief over a loss bagpipes played a haunting dirge at the funeral for the fallen leader

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Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of dirge This offers respite from the music ever feeling too dirge-like. — Brendan Hay, SPIN, 1 May 2026 The pioneering alt-country band returns with its first album in 30 years—a set of cryptic, languid dirges that feels defiantly out-of-time. — Zach Schonfeld, Pitchfork, 17 Apr. 2026 Last year’s version had two good performances, in Onya and Jewels, and was otherwise a total dirge. — Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 21 Feb. 2026 Swedish singer-composer Anna von Hausswolff, whose cathedral melodies, intense vocals and doom-laden dirges share much in common with Nordic heavy-metal culture, specializes in mystery and grandiosity. — Bob Gendron, Chicago Tribune, 9 Jan. 2026 See All Example Sentences for dirge

Recent Examples of Synonyms for dirge

Noun

Jax has a greyhound with its own wardrobe that’s probably worth more than my entire closet and is worried about only having her personality to lean on in the experiment — a hot girl’s lament.

— Emma Sharpe, Vulture, 14 Oct. 2026
Caroline Wahl concluded her statement with the wistful lament that all she was left with now was her double one—referring to her two new books heading the Spiegel Bestseller List.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 8 Oct. 2026

Definition of lament

Noun

Her works are playful and often ironic, relentlessly experimental and not only genre-bending but form-bending, including Nox (New Directions, 2010), a box containing an accordioned elegy to her estranged brother after his death.

— Emily Temple, Literary Hub, 8 Oct. 2026
Their books are therefore, in some respects, elegies to a conception of reading and writing which seems to be nearing an end.

— Louis Menand, New Yorker, 21 Sep. 2026

Definition of elegy

Noun

The objectors' subsequent ululation echoed a requiem for a fallen hero--all over a time shift that accessing the PBS app avoids entirely.

— Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 25 Sep. 2026
And for me, ‘Amor Eterno,’ coincidentally also patterns how most requiems start, which is requiem eternum, eternal rest, eternal love.

— Rod Stafford Hagwood, Sun Sentinel, 29 May 2026

Definition of requiem

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direful

dirge

dirgelike

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“Dirge.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dirge. Accessed 19 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of dirge

noun

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