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sombre

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som·ber

   [som-ber]
adjective
1.
gloomily dark; shadowy; dimly lighted: a somber passageway.
2.
dark and dull, as color, or as things in respect to color: a somber dress.
3.
gloomy, depressing, or dismal: a somber mood.
4.
extremely serious; grave: a somber expression on his face.
Also, especially British, som·bre.

Origin:
1750–60; < French sombre, Middle French, probably noun derivative of *sombrer to make shady < Vulgar Latin *subumbrāre, equivalent to Latin sub- sub- + umbrāre to cast a shadow, derivative of umbra shade

Related forms
som·ber·ly, adverb
som·ber·ness, noun
un·som·ber, adjective
un·som·ber·ly, adverb
un·som·ber·ness, noun

Synonyms
1. dusky, murky, sunless. 3. lugubrious, mournful, doleful, melancholy.

Antonyms
1. bright. 3. cheerful.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Sombre is always a great word to know.
So is quincunx. Does it mean:
an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle.
a scrap or morsel of food left at a meal.
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Example Sentences
  • Sombre drapings of black hung from the palpit and reading desk, and the choir stalls on.
  • He looked suitably sombre and called the colonial system unjust.
  • They have rescued the peace process, but the mood is sombre.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
sombre or somber (ˈsɒmbə)
 
—adj
1.  dismal; melancholy: a sombre mood
2.  dim, gloomy, or shadowy
3.  (of colour, clothes, etc) sober, dull, or dark
 
[C18: from French, from Vulgar Latin subumbrāre (unattested) to shade, from Latin sub beneath + umbra shade]
 
somber or somber
 
—adj
 
[C18: from French, from Vulgar Latin subumbrāre (unattested) to shade, from Latin sub beneath + umbra shade]
 
'sombrely or somber
 
—adv
 
'somberly or somber
 
—adv
 
'sombreness or somber
 
—n
 
'somberness or somber
 
—n
 
sombrous or somber
 
—adj

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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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

somber
1760 (earlier sombrous, c.1730), from Fr. sombre "dark, gloomy," from O.Fr. sombre, from L.L. subumbrare "to shadow," from sub "under" + umbra "shade, shadow," from PIE *andho- "blind, dark" (see umbrage).
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sombre
British spelling of somber (q.v.); for suffix, see -re.
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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