lamentable
/ləˈmɛn.tə.bəl/adjective
lamentable is spelled L-A-M-E-N-T-A-B-L-E: 10 letters and 4 syllables. It appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 54,808th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, lamentable means “Causing sorrow, distress or regret; deplorable, pitiful or distressing” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in lamentable?
| Letters | 10: L-A-M-E-N-T-A-B-L-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 3 million words; the 54,808th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is lamentable?
Lamentable appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 54,808th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce lamentable?
- /ləˈmɛn.tə.bəl/
- /ˈlæm.ən.tə.bəl/
Lamentable has 4 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vininn126-lamentable.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of lamentable
- more lamentable comparative
- most lamentable superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does lamentable mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Causing sorrow, distress or regret; deplorable, pitiful or distressing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Lamentable in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense deplorable:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | lamentable, déplorable |
| German | beklagenswert |
| Portuguese | lamentável |
| Spanish | lamentable |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does lamentable come from?
From Middle English lamentable, from Middle French lamentable, from Latin lāmentābilis (“full of sorrow, mournful; deplorable”), from lāmentor (“lament”), from lāmenta (“wailing, weeping”). By surface analysis, lament + -able.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).