dirge

Meanings

1. 1nouncountableliterary

   A slow, sad piece of music or verse performed to mourn someone who has died, especially at a funeral.

   Grammar: Takes a plural: the choir sang a dirge; two dirges were played.

   Patterns

   • a dirge for someone
   • sing a dirge

   The choir sang a dirge as the coffin was carried out.

   A bagpiper played a slow dirge for the fallen soldiers.

   The poem is a dirge for a lost way of life.

2. 2nouncountabledisapprovingfigurative

   Any piece of music, or sound, that is slow, heavy and gloomy, so that it feels dull to listen to.

   Grammar: Often used with a critical tone: the band's new song is a dirge.

   Patterns

   • a dirge of something

   The second half of the album is one long dirge.

   The organ droned a dirge that put half the congregation to sleep.

   Critics called the film's score a tedious dirge.

Word forms

Common combinations

funeral dirge

A funeral dirge echoed through the cathedral.

sing a dirge

They sang a dirge at the graveside.

play a dirge

The band played a dirge for the fallen leader.

mournful dirge

A mournful dirge drifted across the moor.

slow dirge

The cellist began with a slow dirge.

Synonyms and how they differ

lament

A lament can be a song or poem of grief but also a spoken complaint, while dirge is more tied to funerals and slow music.

elegy

An elegy is a reflective poem about someone dead and need not be sung, whereas a dirge is usually meant to be performed or played.

requiem

A requiem is a formal religious service or musical work for the dead, while a dirge is simpler and more mournful in tone.

threnody

Threnody is a rare, literary word for a song of mourning, and is more poetic than dirge.

Opposites

Word family

dirge-like adjective

slow, heavy and mournful in sound

dirges noun

plural form, songs of mourning

Commonly confused: dirge or verge?

Practice

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