dirges

Meanings

1. 1nounpluralliterary

   Slow, sad songs or pieces of music played or sung at a funeral or to mourn someone who has died.

   Grammar: Plural of dirge: the choir sang two dirges.

   Patterns

   • sing dirges
   • dirges for someone

   The choir sang slow dirges as the coffin was carried out.

   Old poets wrote dirges for fallen kings.

   Pipers played two dirges at the memorial.

2. 2nounpluralfigurativehumorous

   Any pieces of music that are dull, very slow and gloomy.

   Grammar: Plural of dirge: the radio played nothing but dirges.

   Patterns

   • nothing but dirges

   The band's second album is full of dreary dirges.

   I wanted a lively party playlist, not a set of dirges.

   Her voice made even cheerful songs sound like dirges.

Word forms

Common combinations

funeral dirges

Funeral dirges echoed through the cathedral.

sing dirges

The villagers sang dirges for the lost sailors.

slow dirges

The orchestra played slow dirges all evening.

mournful dirges

Mournful dirges drifted across the valley.

play dirges

The band played dirges as the procession passed.

Synonyms and how they differ

laments

This is a general word for songs or poems of grief and need not be tied to a funeral.

elegies

This usually means poems written in memory of someone, more than music.

requiems

This is a more formal term for music or a religious service for the dead, usually a Mass.

funeral marches

This names slow music for a procession, a narrower idea than dirges.

Opposites

Word family

dirge noun

a single mournful song

lament noun

a song or poem of grief

elegy noun

a poem of mourning

mournful adjective

full of sadness

Commonly confused: dirges or verges?

Practice

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