| While Europe's financial distress has already revived bad historical memories, the Angola-Portugal moment has had no equal in its up-front plaintiveness. |
| He spoke with a delicate plaintiveness, in the nasal, twangy drawl of a Texan. |
| The whole film is so exquisite, and its plaintiveness so infectious, that only afterward do you realize that it was, to be blunt, the story of a one-night stand. |
| She looked up at Sibylla with a plaintiveness coloured by malice. |
| Likewise, her voice has a matter-of-fact plaintiveness that defines, but can also box in, her performance. |
| Mr. Pizzarelli's performances of both songs in his wife's presence conveyed a boyish plaintiveness. |
