The adjective blithe indicates that someone does something casually or in a carefree fashion without much concern for the end result; as a result, they are happy and lighthearted.
Someone in a buoyant mood is in good spirits.
If you describe someone, usually a young woman, as demure, you mean that she is quiet, shy, and always behaves modestly.
If you are despondent, you are extremely unhappy because you are in an unpleasant situation that you do not think will improve.
A dirge is a slow and sad piece of music often performed at funerals.
Something that is dolorous, such as music or news, causes mental pain and sorrow because it itself is full of grief and sorrow.
Someone who is dour is serious, stubborn, and unfriendly; they can also be gloomy.
When something is droll, it is humorous in an odd way.
Someone who is ebullient is filled with enthusiasm, very happy, and extremely excited about something.
An effervescent individual is lively, very happy, and enthusiastic.
If you show exuberance, you display great excitement, energy, and enthusiasm.
If you exult, you show great pleasure and excitement, especially about something you have achieved.
The gravity of a situation or event is its seriousness or importance.
A halcyon time is calm, peaceful, and undisturbed.
An idyll is a place or situation that is extremely pleasant, peaceful, and has no problems.
Levity is an amusing way of speaking or behaving during a serious situation; it can lighten the moment but can also be considered inappropriate.
If someone is lugubrious, they are looking very sad or gloomy.
Something is mawkish when it is overly sentimental and silly in an embarrassing way.
If you are melancholy, you look and feel sad.
A plaintive sound or voice expresses sadness.
Someone who is querulous often complains about things in an annoying way.
If you say that something, such as an event or a message, resonates with you, you mean that it has an emotional effect or a special meaning for you that is significant.
A resounding success, victory, or defeat is very great or complete, whereas a noise of this kind is loud, powerful, and ringing.
Someone who is saturnine is looking miserable and sad, sometimes in a threatening or unfriendly way.
A sonorous sound is pleasantly full, strong, and rich.
A tacit agreement between two people is understood without having to use words to express it.
A whimsical idea or person is slightly strange, unusual, and amusing rather than serious and practical.
Adj.
plangent
PLAN-juhnt
Context
I hurried into the church when I heard the plangent sounds of the tolling, deep-sounding bells, which indicated the funeral of my beloved was about to begin. Walking inside, the plangent, loud beats of the hymn surrounded me, and I found I could not get away from their penetrating sadness. When the strong vibrating sounds of the plangent organ began, I could no longer contain my sorrow, and I began to weep uncontrollably.
Clang Clang Funeral The soldier's body was laid to rest to the plangent sound of clang-clanging cymbals.
Examples
The human had heard the young whale’s distress and had come into the sea, playing a flute. The sound was plangent and sad as he tried to communicate his oneness with the young whale’s mourning.
— Witi Ihimaera, New Zealand author, from _The Whale Rider_
I had always liked the refrain and Simon’s use of major seventh chords throughout the piece. Those chords, with the bottom three notes forming a major structure and the top three a minor structure, help lend the song its plangent tonal quality. But it was, for me, mostly a drive-by listening experience.
—
WBUR
Just as Orpheus' lyre drew the beasts and the rocks to him, so have the plangent cries of the pedal steel guitar attracted a hundred-odd aficionados of the instrument to this the 27th annual convention of the Pedal Steel Guitar Association.
—
TIME
It nevertheless made many end-of-year lists, partly because Dawson has a way with a tune despite his avant garde leanings, but also because of his incredible voice. At times, it’s the plangent roar of an ancient summoner. At others, it’s a sad, high quiver, as if Neil Young had gone northern.
—
The Guardian
