sombre
Britishadjective
-
dismal; melancholy
a sombre mood
-
dim, gloomy, or shadowy
-
(of colour, clothes, etc) sober, dull, or dark
Other Word Forms
- sombrely adverb
- sombreness noun
- sombrous adjective
Etymology
Origin of sombre
C18: from French, from Vulgar Latin subumbrāre (unattested) to shade, from Latin sub beneath + umbra shade
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
A minute's silence at 10:00 brought Kyiv to a halt on a sombre day for Ukraine, though on on which a sense of solidarity was palpable.
From BBC
The country's main television channel has this week broadcast songs with sombre melodies and published a photo of Rakhmon on a black background with the quote, "the man of the Sun Dynasty."
From Barron's
But emails released by the US Department for Justice provide more details of how, instead of a sombre goodbye, Andrew was the star guest at a lively gathering of celebrities at Epstein's multi-million Manhattan townhouse.
From BBC
But the usual party atmosphere surrounding the races has given way to a more muted event and sombre tributes, exactly a month after the January 1 inferno at the bar Le Constellation.
From Barron's
There was a sombre atmosphere on the court, with the crowd applauding sympathetically as Jones limped off with a towel covering her head.
From BBC
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
