plaintive (adj.)

late 14c., "lamenting, complaining, giving utterance to sorrow or grief," from Old French plaintif "complaining; wretched, miserable," from plainte (see plaint). Sense of "expressive of sorrow or melancholy, mournful, sad" is recorded from 1570s. Earlier was pleintful "grievous, lamentable" (early 14c.). Related: Plaintively; plaintiveness.