lachrymose

Today’s Merriam-Webster’s “Word of the Day” was a new one for me: lachrymose. If you know it already I suspect you are in linguistically rarefied company. If you don’t, join the crowd with me.  Any guesses?

Lachrymose comes from the Latin noun lacrima, meaning “tear”, as in crying. It is used to describe a person who tends to cry often, or an emotional trigger that induces tears. Those more stoic in disposition might be moved (though not to tears) to learn that lachrymose also has a scientific counterpart: its older cousin lachrymal meaning “of, relating to, or marked by tears,” or (usually with the alternative spelling lacrimal) “of, relating to, or being glands that produce tears.”

The goal for the day is to use lachrymose in a sentence at some point in the day. But be prepared for the rolling of eyes and the other person to wonder why in the world you just used that word. Or just maybe, the other person might become all misty-eyed.

4 thoughts on “lachrymose

  1. Mozart Requiem in D minor speaks of tearfully rising from the ashes to be judged.
    “Lacrimosa dies illa
    Qua resurget ex favilla
    Judicandus homo reus.”

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