Bemoaned (verb) – to express deep grief or distress over

Source: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bemoaned

From “You In America” by Amanda Ngozi Adichie

I came across this word while reading “You In America” by Amanda Ngozi Adichie. It appears around the middle of the reading, as the author talks about how other individuals perceive you, and how it changes depending on the kind of people. It caught my interest because it’s a word I don’t hear quite often and didn’t know it’s meaning, so i’m curious as to how it ties in with the sentence and the author’s overall point.

“The old white women who muttered and glared at him, the black men who shook their heads at you, the black women whose pitiful eyes bemoaned your lack of self-esteem, your self-loathing.” (Adichie).

After reading the definition of the word I better understand the context of how the author was using it in that part of the text. As seen in the quote, the author is discribing how the individuals perceived you negatively.