variants
or sombre
1
: so shaded as to be dark and gloomy
2
b
: of a dismal or depressing character : melancholy
c
: conveying gloomy suggestions or ideas
3
: of a dull or heavy cast or shade : dark colored
somberly
adverb
somberness
noun
Synonyms
Examples of somber in a Sentence
Looking out at his audience, a somber mass of monks, Gregory gave Mary a new identity that would shape her image for fourteen hundred years.
—
Jonathan Darman, Newsweek, 29 May 2006
This year marks a somber anniversary—it was 150 years ago that humans wiped out the last survivors of this species. A relative of the razorbills and puffins, and about the size of a small goose, the great auk was black-bodied with a white underbelly, and walked erect, like a penguin.
—Bill Montevecchi, Natural History, August 1994
The purple darkness was filled with men who lectured and jabbered. Sometimes he could see them gesticulating against the blue and somber sky.
—Stephen Crane, The Red Badge of Courage, 1895
Her death put us in a somber mood.
The movie is a somber portrait of life on the streets.
He wore a somber suit.
Jonathan Darman, Newsweek, 29 May 2006
This year marks a somber anniversary—it was 150 years ago that humans wiped out the last survivors of this species. A relative of the razorbills and puffins, and about the size of a small goose, the great auk was black-bodied with a white underbelly, and walked erect, like a penguin.
—Bill Montevecchi, Natural History, August 1994
The purple darkness was filled with men who lectured and jabbered. Sometimes he could see them gesticulating against the blue and somber sky.
—Stephen Crane, The Red Badge of Courage, 1895
Her death put us in a somber mood.
The movie is a somber portrait of life on the streets.
He wore a somber suit.
Recent Examples on the Web
Less than two weeks after President John F. Kennedy was assassinated, an Army-Navy football game played in front of a crowd of 102,000 spectators at Philadelphia’s Municipal Stadium on December 7, 1963, might have been a subdued and somber affair.
—Eli Wizevich, Smithsonian Magazine, 7 Dec. 2024
Back in the locker room and away from the field where the Patriots lost a not-as-close-as-it-sounds 34-15 game, the mood wasn’t somber.
—Chad Graff, The Athletic, 24 Nov. 2024
The show is slow-paced and somber, and Sheridan seems to relish in emphasizing the many ways that pioneers died.
—Noel Murray, Vulture, 18 Nov. 2024
Dressed in somber black, his wife, Kate, watched on from a balcony of the nearby Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, as is tradition.
—Pan Pylas, Chicago Tribune, 10 Nov. 2024
See all Example Sentences for somber 
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Eli Wizevich, Smithsonian Magazine, 7 Dec. 2024
Back in the locker room and away from the field where the Patriots lost a not-as-close-as-it-sounds 34-15 game, the mood wasn’t somber.
—Chad Graff, The Athletic, 24 Nov. 2024
The show is slow-paced and somber, and Sheridan seems to relish in emphasizing the many ways that pioneers died.
—Noel Murray, Vulture, 18 Nov. 2024
Dressed in somber black, his wife, Kate, watched on from a balcony of the nearby Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, as is tradition.
—Pan Pylas, Chicago Tribune, 10 Nov. 2024
See all Example Sentences for somber
Dictionary Entries Near somber
Cite this Entry
“Somber.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/somber. Accessed 21 Dec. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
somber
adjective
som·ber
variants
or sombre
1
: so shaded as to be dark and gloomy
2
: melancholy entry 2 sense 1, grave
a somber mood
3
: dull or dark colored
somberly
adverb
somberness
noun
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