sombre
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈsɒmbə/
ipa: /ˈsɑmbɚ/
ipa: /ˈsɒmbəɹ/
ipa: [sɔ̃ː.bɹ(ə)]
rhymes: -ɒmbə(ɹ)
Forms: form: sombrer
form: sombrest
form: somber
form: somber
Etymology: Borrowed from French sombre (“dark”), from Old French sombre, from a verb *sombrer or Latin sub- + umbra. Compare Spanish sombra (“shade; dark part of a picture; ghost”).
Senses: examples: text: The lady led him into a sombre hallway and disappeared. A moment later the windowless chamber was illuminated by the entry of a heavenly creature emitting a radiance prone to pierce the heart of any youth exposed to it.
ref: 2015, Hermann Kauders, Before The Cock Crows, →ISBN, page 9:
text: All three parallel valleys of the Llynvi, Garw and Ogmore are much the same in physical character: the lower reaches are wooded and not unattractive, but as the railway climbs on ever-steepening grades, the hills on either hand grow barer and closer together, while in all respects the scene becomes more sombre, with the terraced, slate-roofed colliery towns and the road, railway and river all struggling for space in the narrowing defiles.
ref: 1955 July, D. S. Barrie, “Railways of the Bridgend District”, in Railway Magazine, page 449:
synonyms: word: bleak
word: dreary
word: cheerless
word: comfortless
word: bleak
word: dark
word: depressing
word: desolate
word: dire
word: disconsolate
word: dismal
word: doleful
word: dolesome
word: drear
word: drearisome
word: dreary
word: dreich
word: forlorn
word: gayless
word: gray
word: gloomsome
word: gloomy
word: grim
word: joyless
word: lack-laughter
word: lugubrious
word: melancholy
word: mirthless
word: miserable
word: no joke
word: saturnine
word: solemn
word: somber
word: sombre
word: spiritless
word: sullen
word: sunless
word: uncheerful
word: uncheery
word: unhappy
word: unmerry
word: wintry
word: woeful
glosses: Dark; gloomy; shadowy, dimly lit.
examples: text: His tall and slender figure, dressed in sombre black, his hair of that peculiar reddish auburn so rarely seen, his flashing black eyes, in which a fitful fire seemed for ever burning; all combined to give something almost of a demoniac air ...
ref: 1877, The Black Band; or, The Mysteries of Midnight, page 47:
synonyms: word: fuscous
word: inky
word: blear
word: caliginous
word: cimmerian
word: crepuscular
word: dark
word: darksome
word: darkling
word: dim
word: dimpsy
word: dingy
word: dull
word: dusky
word: fuliginous
word: gloomy
word: leaden
word: lightless
word: mirksome
word: murky
word: murksome
word: obscure
word: shady
word: somber
word: sombrous
word: stygian
word: sunless
word: swarthy
word: tenebrous
word: twilightish
word: umbrageous
word: unilluminated
word: dark
word: deep
word: dull
word: dusky
word: full
word: fuscous
word: languid
word: muted
word: inky
word: intense
word: saturated
word: somber
word: swarthy
glosses: Dull or dark in colour or brightness.
examples: text: The dinner was silent and sombre; happily it was also short.
ref: 1845, B[enjamin] Disraeli, Sybil; or The Two Nations. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC:
text: It was a wonder that he had not been a victim of the ferocious and summary executions which marked the course of that tyranny; for Guzman had ruled the country with the sombre imbecility of political fanaticism.
ref: 1904 January 29 – October 7, Joseph Conrad, Nostromo: A Tale of the Seaboard, London; New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers […], published 1904, →OCLC:
text: A sombre mood, very sombre in fact, thought Hennessey, as he stood against the wall observing the procedure for the police. He had not known a mood more sombre to have previously descended on the room.
ref: 2012, Peter Turnbull, Aftermath, Severn House Publishers Ltd, →ISBN:
synonyms: word: despondent
word: unhappy
word: atrabiliary
word: atrabilious
word: blitheless
word: dispirited
word: blue
word: bummed out
word: chapfallen
word: cheerless
word: chopfallen
word: crestfallen
word: cut up
word: damp
word: dejected
word: depressed
word: despondent
word: disgruntled
word: disconsolate
word: disheartened
word: dismal
word: doleful
word: dolesome
word: down
word: down in the dumps
word: down in the mouth
word: downcast
word: downhearted
word: downsome
word: dull
word: elegiac
word: elegious
word: forlorn
word: gloomy
word: glum
word: grief-stricken
word: grieving
word: heavy-hearted
word: heartsore
word: heartsick
word: inconsolable
word: infelicitous
word: jawfallen
word: joyless
word: lachrymose
word: lamentful
word: low
word: low-spirited
word: lugubrious
word: lumpish
word: melancholic
word: melancholy
word: miserable
word: moody
word: mopey
word: morose
word: mournful
word: passionate
word: plaintive
word: querulous
word: sad
word: saddened
word: saturnine
word: shattered
word: solemn
word: sombre
word: sorrowful
word: sorrow-ridden
word: sorrowsome
word: spiritless
word: sullen
word: threnetic
word: threnetical
word: triste
word: tristful
word: uncheerful
word: uncheery
word: unconsolable
word: unhappy
word: unlively
word: wistful
word: woe
word: woebegone
word: woeful
word: wretched
glosses: Melancholic, gloomy, dreary, dismal; grim.
examples: text: a sombre situation
synonyms: word: earnest
word: staid
word: austere
word: frightful
word: demure
word: serious
word: grave
word: earnest
word: grievous
word: lack-laughter
word: thoughtful
word: sad
word: sage
word: saturnine
word: sedate
word: solemn
word: solemncholy
word: sober
word: somber
word: sombre
word: staid
word: stern
word: sweer
word: weightsome
word: weighty
glosses: Grave; extremely serious.
Derived terms: sombre rock chat
sombre tit
somber tit
sombrish
sombrely
sombresome