Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adj. Dark; gloomy.
- adj. Dull or dark in color.
- adj. Melancholy; dismal: a somber mood.
- adj. Serious; grave.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Dark; dull; dusky; gloomy: as, a somber hue; somber clouds.
- Dismal; melancholy; dull: opposed to cheerful.
- Synonyms Darksome, cloudy, murky.
- To make somber, dark, or gloomy; shade.
Wiktionary
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. Dull; dusky; somewhat dark; gloomy.
- adj. Melancholy; sad; grave; depressing.
- v. rare To make somber, or dark; to make shady.
- n. obsolete Gloom; obscurity; duskiness; somberness.
WordNet 3.0
- adj. lacking brightness or color; dull.
- adj. grave or even gloomy in character
Etymologies
- From French sombre ("shady, gloomy"), from Spanish sombra ("shade, dark part of a picture, also a ghost"), probably from Latin *subumbrare, from sub ("under") + umbra ("shade"). (Wiktionary)
- French sombre, from Old French, from *sombrer, to cast a shadow, from Late Latin subumbrāre, from Latin sub umbrā, in shadow : sub, under; see sub- + umbrā, ablative of umbra, shadow. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Keeping his expression somber, he waited for the polite applause to die down.”
“His voice was warm, but his expression somber, and Riker feared Deanna was probably right about more bad news.”
“That was much the same thing Torre told players in what he described as a somber clubhouse once the Dodgers had filed in by mid-afternoon.”
“Kool J sighed and answered the question in somber fashion.”
What Do Real Thugs Think of The Wire? Part Nine - Freakonomics Blog - NYTimes.com
“Hayward reiterated his decision to leave Butler at a May 7 news conference that was characterized by a somber tone.”
“While we remain somber and dazed by the unfortunate turn of events in the finance world, we will welcome applicants with open arms.”
Silicon Alley Tells Wall Street: Send Us Your Résumés - Bits Blog - NYTimes.com
“They placed a floating floral wreath on each and stood in somber silence.”
“As he watched Chase, his brother turned to him, his expression somber, thoughtful.”
“Rather than give much further elucidation of this plaintive essay written for Esquire in somber post-flapper days, this person has the facts and history.”
“Doe enlisted the great Neko Case to help out on one song, and Doe's love of Case's Blacklisted record is apparent: like that (amazing!) disc, Forever is heavy on moody reverb, doused in somber imagery and full of unexpected bursts of energy.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘somber’.
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@vcb.etym.prjct - SAT WORD DUMP - as ...
The words on this list SAT regulars that I haven't sorted and grouped yet. It's like my wordy holding pen. get it? holding the pen to write a word? HA! I love how lame my humor is.
iconoclast, glacial, agnostic, histrionic, treacly, contemptuous, captious, bombastic, bombast, perfidy, quiescence, sordid and 148 more...
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4087 more...
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sdamle1
echt
echt, apocalypse, resurgence, forthright, logorrhea, mercurial, torrid, exorcise, obscure, intrusive, morose, vindictive and 100 more...
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Test Prep or Just for fun
Building a list for standardized test prep or just for learning some new words! Please add any words that you feel are important for the SAT/GRE/GMAT etc...
throng, morass, parley, facile, kismet, strife, jetsam, carrion, annex, harbinger, vestige, surreptitious and 575 more...
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GRE 2014
abate, abdicate, abase, aberrant, abeyance, abhor, abjure, abortive, abound, abrasive, abreast, abridge and 1577 more...
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good,everyday use
ballsy, somber, acerbic, gouge, muffin top, decrepit, crud, palliative, manly, bemused, specious
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big book gre
abase, abbess, abbey, abbot, abdicate, abdomen, abdominal, abduction, abed, aberration, abet, abeyance and 6691 more...
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Dark (in color)
Adjectives meaning dark (in color)
fuscous, obfuscous, swarthy, aphotic, somber, sombre, tenebrous, dark, deep, umbral, dusky
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gre2
aberrant, aberration, aboveboard, abrasive, abstemious, acme, admonish, affable, affluent, alacrity, allegory, alleviate and 1907 more...
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♥
ambrosia, inamorata, gossamer, lily-white, hummingbird, roucoulement, poppy, daisy, calypso, lunula, lamb, dove and 1526 more...
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Barron's 1100 words you need to know ...
abjure, allay, complacent, connoisseur, debilitate, deter, discreet, evanescent, foment, glean, impetuous, occult and 8 more...
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Holli
Cancer, Mercury, water, moon, dark, emotion, nostalgia, angst, brooding, isolation, shadow, corner and 145 more...
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Need to Know!
elicit, educe, refute, cogency, churlish, martinet, veritable, polyglot, dissemble, histrionics, prevarication, verbiage and 166 more...
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Words I Know
List of most of the words I've learned
garner, abase, abate, abdicate, abduct, aberration, abet, abhor, abide, abject, abjure, abnegation and 1046 more...
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SAT Vocab
Redundant.
problematic, proclivity, prodigal, prodigious, prodigy, profane, profligate, profound, profusion, proliferation, prolific, prologue and 455 more...
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newGRE
mostly from magoosh
imbue, verge on, nonchalant, deliberate, timorous, futile, provisional, dissect, checked, tinged, alluring, visionary and 1046 more...
Tweets
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