Synonyms for somber
- adjective
- American English
Most common
Synonyms by meaning
Adjective
1. Melancholy — melancholic, gloomy, dreary, dismal; grim
melancholy, mournful, sad, solemn, morose, funereal, melancholic, lugubrious, doleful, cheerless, dismal, despondent, disconsolate, depressed, unhappy, saturnine, uncheerful, pensive, sorrowful, moody, wistful, glum
2. Dark — dull or dark in colour or brightness
dark, black, dingy, obscure, shady, inky, fuscous, stygian, darkling, tenebrous formal, unilluminated, dusky, cloudy, dim, murky, leaden, shadowy, cimmerian formal, darksome formal, caliginous formal dated
3. Depressing — dark; gloomy; shadowy, dimly lit
depressing, grim, gloomy, bleak, dreary, desolate, grey UK, gray US, dire, drear, drearisome, overcast, sunless
4. Sober — grave; extremely serious
sober, grave, sedate, serious, demure, earnest, staid, weighty, austere, thoughtful, stern, grievous
Other
Definitions
- adj. 1
Dark; gloomy; shadowy, dimly lit.
- adj. 2
Dull or dark in colour or brightness.
- adj. 3
Melancholic, gloomy, dreary, dismal; grim.
- adj. 4
Grave; extremely serious.
Related words
- Word family
- somberness
- Other spellings
- sombre UK
Choose the right word
Figuratively, dark is emblematic of sadness, agreeing with somber, dismal, gloomy, also of moral evil; as, a dark deed.
J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)
Example sentences
- solemn Ziri and Rima shook hands and swore a solemn oath.
- mournful Tom stood at the window with a mournful expression on his face.
- funereal The whistling of the wind through the rigging sounded like funereal wailings.
- dingy Lacking proper lighting, Tammy's room was depressingly dingy.
- inky The night was tranquil, the sky clear and inky black.
By length
- 3 letters
- sad1, dim1
- 4 letters
- dark1, grey1, gray1, grim1, dire1, drab1, inky2, glum1
- 5 letters
- black1, grave1, sober2, stern1, moody2, shady2, bleak1, murky2, dingy2, dusky, staid1, drear
- 6 letters
- cloudy2, solemn2, gloomy2, dismal2, dreary2, sedate2, demure2, morose2, leaden2
- 7 letters
- serious3, unhappy3, obscure2, earnest2, shadowy3, austere2, weighty2, wistful2, pensive2, fuscous, sunless, stygian3, doleful2
- 8 letters
- desolate3, grievous2, overcast3, mournful2, funereal, darkling, darksome
- 9 letters
- depressed2, sorrowful3, cheerless, cimmerian, saturnine, tenebrous3
- 10 letters
- depressing3, thoughtful2, melancholy4, despondent3, lugubrious4, uncheerful, caliginous, drearisome
- 11 letters
- melancholic4
- 12 letters
- disconsolate
- 13 letters
- unilluminated
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (inky2 = 2 syllables).