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Lament vs Moan - What's the difference?

lament | moan |

In intransitive terms the difference between lament and moan

is that lament is to express grief; to weep or wail; to mourn while moan is to make a moan or similar sound.

In transitive terms the difference between lament and moan

is that lament is to feel great sorrow or regret; to bewail while moan is to say in a moan, or with a moaning voice.

lament

English

Noun

(en noun)
  • An expression of grief, suffering, or sadness.
  • A song expressing grief.
  • Derived terms

    * (l) (rare)

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To express grief; to weep or wail; to mourn.
  • * Bible, John xvi. 20
  • Ye shall weep and lament , but the world shall rejoice.
  • To feel great sorrow or regret; to bewail.
  • * 2014 , , " Southampton hammer eight past hapless Sunderland in barmy encounter", The Guardian , 18 October 2014:
  • By the end, Sunderland were lucky to lose by the same scoreline Northampton Town suffered against Southampton, in 1921. The Sunderland manager, Gus Poyet, lamented that it was “the most embarrassed I’ve ever been on a football pitch, without a doubt”.
  • * Dryden
  • One laughed at follies, one lamented crimes.

    Synonyms

    * bewail

    Anagrams

    * * * * ----

    moan

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • a low, mournful cry of pain, sorrow or pleasure
  • Verb

    (en verb)
  • * 1596 , (Edmund Spenser), The Faerie Queene , VI.7:
  • Much did the Craven seeme to mone his case […].
  • * Prior
  • Ye floods, ye woods, ye echoes, moan / My dear Columbo, dead and gone.
  • (obsolete) To distress (someone); to sadden.
  • * Beaumont and Fletcher
  • which infinitely moans me
  • To make a moan or similar sound.
  • To say in a moan, or with a moaning voice.
  • ‘Please don't leave me,’ he moaned .
  • (colloquial) To complain; to grumble.
  • Synonyms

    * See also

    Derived terms

    * moaner * moany

    See also

    * murmur * protest * lament

    Anagrams

    * ----