sombre en · ADJ
Pronunciation
- (US) audio
- /ˈsɑmbɚ/ (General-American)
- (US) audio
- /ˈsɒmbə/ (Received-Pronunciation)
- /ˈsɒmbəɹ/ (Canada)
- [sɔ̃ː.bɹ(ə)] (Canada)
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”).
Meanings
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(Canada, UK) Dark; gloomy; shadowy, dimly lit.
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.
1955 July, D. S. Barrie, “Railways of the Bridgend District”, in Railway Magazine, page 449: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.
2015, Hermann Kauders, Before The Cock Crows, →ISBN, page 9:
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(Canada, UK) Dull or dark in colour or brightness.
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 ...
1877, The Black Band; or, The Mysteries of Midnight, page 47:
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(Canada, UK) Melancholic, gloomy, dreary, dismal; grim.
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.
1904 January 29 – October 7, Joseph Conrad, Nostromo: A Tale of the Seaboard, London; New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers […], published 1904, →OCLC: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.
2012, Peter Turnbull, Aftermath, Severn House Publishers Ltd, →ISBN:The dinner was silent and sombre; happily it was also short.
1845, B[enjamin] Disraeli, Sybil; or The Two Nations. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC:
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(Canada, UK) Grave; extremely serious.
a sombre situation
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| sombrest | Degree=Sup | lexicographic | |
| sombrer | Degree=Cmp | lexicographic | |
| somber | US, alternative | lexicographic |
Deriveds
somber tit · sombrish · sombreness · sombre tit · sombresome · sombre rock chat · sombrely · unsombre
Synonyms
dolesome · disgruntled · morose · downsome · sorrowsome · earnest · unmerry · darkling · grave · dreary · down in the dumps · woeful · adumbral · fuscous · atrabiliary · mopey · stygian · elegiac · threnetical · joyless · sorrow-ridden · Plutonic · mournful · desolate · weighty · serious · grieving · darksome · melancholic · dismal · sober · somber · dusky · dire · cheerless · dull · grievous · disheartened · lightless · blear · inconsolable · wretched · doleful · spiritless · sombre · elegious · dim · disconsolate · despondent · saturated · solemncholy · grim · sullen · dingy · stern · dark · deep · somber · chopfallen · saturnine · uncheerful · shattered · dimpsy · woebegone · triste · fuscous · infelicitous · uncheery · sad · bleak · unhappy · lumpish · tenebrous · dolesome · unilluminated · drear · woe · comfortless · gloomy · unhappy · chapfallen · down in the mouth · miserable · ruthful · uncheery · gayless · lack-laughter · lachrymose · low · sedate · unhappy · gloomy · dejected · cut up · earnest · twilightish · saddened · demure · plaintive · saturnine · gloomy · drearisome · gray · jawfallen · blue · lack-laughter · sombre · glum · cheerless · sunless · bleak · lamentful · sage · tenebrose · unconsolable · thoughtful · spiritless · dreary · swarthy · staid · sullen · caliginous · heartsore · woeful · dark · grief-stricken · unlively · cimmerian · dreich · umbrageous · atrabilious · staid · passionate · shady · low-spirited · tristful · wintry · dull · muted · disconsolate · down · infernal · bummed out · crestfallen · threnetic · downcast · austere · frightful · wistful · forlorn · miserable · solemn · querulous · lugubrious · mirthless · solemn · somber · lugubrious · despondent · inky · forlorn · heartsick · downhearted · no joke · somber · sorrowful · blitheless · moody · melancholy · saturnine · heavy-hearted · joyless · dark · damp · murksome · morose · dispirited · murky · leaden · depressing · weightsome · obscure · gloomsome · sunless · sombre · swarthy · dusky · sad · sombrous · fuliginous · dull · depressed · Plutonian · full · sweer · solemn · melancholy · dismal · crepuscular · inky · languid · intense · mirksome · doleful · uncheerful
Translations (91)
bg мрачен (dark; gloomy, dimly lit) · de traurig (melancholic; dismal) · de trüb (dull or dark in colour) · ja 薄暗い (melancholic; dismal) · de dunkel (dark; gloomy, dimly lit) · cs zasmušilý (melancholic; dismal) · de freudlos (melancholic; dismal) · fi pimeä (dull or dark in colour) · de trübe (dull or dark in colour) · nl somber (melancholic; dismal) · es sombrío (melancholic; dismal) · ru уны́лый (melancholic; dismal) · de stumpf (dull or dark in colour) · ru непростой (grave) · de düster (dark; gloomy, dimly lit) · hu komor (dull or dark in colour) · hu komor (melancholic; dismal) · cmn 陰沉 /阴沉 (melancholic; dismal) · cs vážný (grave) · fa تاریک، محزون (dark; gloomy, dimly lit) · de düster (melancholic; dismal) · pt lúgubre (dark; gloomy, dimly lit) · hu mogorva (melancholic; dismal) · ja 重苦しい (melancholic; dismal) · cs stinný (dark; gloomy, dimly lit) · pdt dunkel (dark; gloomy, dimly lit) · cmn 陰鬱 /阴郁 (melancholic; dismal) · pt sombrio (dull or dark in colour) · fi ankea (melancholic; dismal) · hu sötét (dull or dark in colour) · de finster (melancholic; dismal) · fi synkkä (melancholic; dismal) · gd gruamach (melancholic; dismal) · bg тъмен (dull or dark in colour) · cs temný (dull or dark in colour) · ru мра́чный (dull or dark in colour) · he נוּגֶה (melancholic; dismal) · he קוֹדֵר (dull or dark in colour) · fr sombre (grave) · ru мра́чный (dark; gloomy, dimly lit) · sv dyster (melancholic; dismal) · ru тёмный (dull or dark in colour) · de trübe (melancholic; dismal) · pt escuro (dark; gloomy, dimly lit) · bg унил (melancholic; dismal) · pl posępny (melancholic; dismal) · mi pōuriuri (dark; gloomy, dimly lit) · de verhalten (melancholic; dismal) · pt sombrio (dark; gloomy, dimly lit) · pl ponury (melancholic; dismal) · ru па́смурный (dark; gloomy, dimly lit) · de matt (dull or dark in colour) · fr sombre (melancholic; dismal) · hu komoly (grave) · pt escuro (dull or dark in colour) · ru угрю́мый (melancholic; dismal) · fi synkkä (dull or dark in colour) · fi vakava (grave) · pdt dunkel (dull or dark in colour) · es sombrío (dark; gloomy, dimly lit) · ca ombrívol (dark; gloomy, dimly lit) · ru хму́рый (melancholic; dismal) · ru хму́рый (dark; gloomy, dimly lit) · eo serioza (grave) · pt sombrio (melancholic; dismal) · cs tmavý (dull or dark in colour) · de schwerwiegend (grave) · ru мра́чный (melancholic; dismal) · de trübe (dark; gloomy, dimly lit) · hy մռայլ (dull or dark in colour) · de finster (dull or dark in colour) · de ernst (grave) · cs temný (dark; gloomy, dimly lit) · cs tmavý (dark; gloomy, dimly lit) · fr sombre (dark; gloomy, dimly lit) · es sombrío (dull or dark in colour) · de finster (dark; gloomy, dimly lit) · pt soturno (dark; gloomy, dimly lit) · gl sombrío (dark; gloomy, dimly lit) · nrf sombre (dark; gloomy, dimly lit) · de schwermütig (melancholic; dismal) · gl sombrío (melancholic; dismal) · de dunkel (dull or dark in colour) · mi pōuriuri (dull or dark in colour) · cs chmurný (melancholic; dismal) · fr sombre (dull or dark in colour) · fi synkkä (dark; gloomy, dimly lit) · ru па́смурный (melancholic; dismal) · bg сериозен (grave) · ru трудный (grave) · mi whakapoururu (dark; gloomy, dimly lit)