saturnine
Use Saturnine in a sentence
ərˌnaɪn adjective
1.
sluggish in temperament; gloomy; taciturn.
2.
suffering from lead poisoning, as a person.
3.
due to absorption of lead, as bodily disorders.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Link To saturnine
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Saturnine
is a GRE word you need to know.
So is sinuous. Does it mean:
| having many curves, bends, or turns; winding and indirect; devious. |
| a. to mark with a spot or spots; to sully or pollute |
Collins
World English Dictionary
saturnine (ˈsætəˌnaɪn) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —adj | |
| 1. | having a gloomy temperament; taciturn |
| 2. | archaic |
| a. of or relating to lead | |
| b. having or symptomatic of lead poisoning | |
| [C15: from French saturnin, from Medieval Latin sāturnīnus (unattested), from Latin Sāturnus Saturn, with reference to the gloomy influence attributed to the planet Saturn] | |
| 'saturninely | |
| —adv | |
| saturninity | |
| —n | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History
saturnine
"gloomy, morose, sluggish, grave," 1433, lit. "born under the influence of the planet Saturn," from M.E. Saturne (see Saturn). Medieval physiology believed these characteristics to be caused by the astrological influence of the planet Saturn, which was the most remote from
the Sun (in the limited knowledge of the times) and thus coldest and slowest in its revolution.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Medical Dictionary
saturnine sat·ur·nine (sāt'ər-nīn')
adj.
melancholy or sullen.
Produced by absorption of lead.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Example sentences
Her saturnine look in the movie mirrors that in several collections on the fall runways.
It's a little higher and faster, but with odd, devastating pauses and saturnine shades of mockery.
Levy is wide-shouldered and tight-suited, with careful hair and a saturnine expression.
He is noticeably saturnine and stiff, not to mention a little foolish-looking, with a ridge of hair across his shaven head.
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