Meaning & use
elegy
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountable
A poem or song that expresses deep sadness, especially for someone who has died.
Grammar: Countable: one elegy, two elegies.
Patterns
- elegy for someone
- write an elegy
- a moving elegy
The poet wrote a touching elegy for his late wife.
Her latest collection includes an elegy for her grandmother.
The choir sang a mournful elegy at the memorial service.
Word forms
| plural | elegies |
|---|
Common combinations
- write an elegy
- He wrote an elegy to honor his friend's memory.
- a moving elegy
- The film ends with a moving elegy for a lost generation.
- elegy for someone
- She composed an elegy for the victims of the disaster.
- a mournful elegy
- The poem is a mournful elegy on the passing of time.
Synonyms and how they differ
Word family
- elegiac adjective
- Having a mournful or sorrowful quality, like an elegy.
- elegist noun
- A writer of elegies.
Commonly confused: elegy or eulogy? elegy or ode?
elegy vs eulogy
A eulogy is a speech or piece of writing that praises someone, especially at a funeral; an elegy is a poem or song expressing sorrow.
elegy vs ode
An ode is a poem that celebrates or praises a person or thing, while an elegy mourns a death or loss.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'elegy' correctly?
Choose one answer.
An elegy is a mournful poem or song, so 'composed an elegy to mourn' fits. Option 0 is wrong because an elegy is sad, not joyful. Option 1 describes a eulogy (a speech of praise), not an elegy. Option 3 is wrong because an anthem is not a mournful poem.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “elegy”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.