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View synonyms for sombre

sombre

/ ˈsɒmbə; ˈsɒmbrəs /

adjective

  1. dismal; melancholy

    a sombre mood

  2. dim, gloomy, or shadowy
  3. (of colour, clothes, etc) sober, dull, or dark


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Derived Forms

  • ˈsombrely, adverb
  • sombrous, adjective
  • ˈsombreness, noun

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Word History and Origins

Origin of sombre1

C18: from French, from Vulgar Latin subumbrāre (unattested) to shade, from Latin sub beneath + umbra shade

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Example Sentences

To highlight them, Frum believes, would have been to make the book less amusing and more sombre.

His eyes became more sombre, looked suddenly as if even their material weight must have increased.

The more his kind wife exerted herself to comfort him, the more obstinately he persisted in maintaining his own sombre views.

In quiet shade the sombre valley lay,While all the little hills around were clothedWith the soft lustre of the dewy moon.

Thick clouds of smoke overcast the sky, shrouding the morning with sombre gray.

If you can stand a few hours of talk from an old smacksman you may hear a sombre litany of horror.

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sombersombrero