sombre
See also: sombré
English
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”).[1][2]
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈsɒmbə/
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈsɑmbɚ/
Audio (US) (file) Audio (US) (file) - Rhymes: -ɒmbə(ɹ)
- Hyphenation: som‧bre
Adjective
sombre (comparative sombrer, superlative sombrest) (British spelling, Canadian spelling)
- Dark; gloomy; shadowy, dimly lit.
- 2015, Hermann Kauders, Before The Cock Crows, →ISBN, page 9:
- 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.
-
- Dull or dark in colour or brightness.
- 1877, The Black Band; or, The Mysteries of Midnight, page 47:
- 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:
- Melancholic, gloomy, dreary, dismal; grim.
- 1845, B[enjamin] Disraeli, Sybil; or The Two Nations. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: Henry Colburn, […], OCLC 1204533024:
- The dinner was silent and sombre; happily it was also short.
- 2012, Peter Turnbull, Aftermath, Severn House Publishers Ltd, →ISBN:
- 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.
-
- Grave; extremely serious.
- a sombre situation
Alternative forms
- somber (American)
Synonyms
- melancholy
- dreary
- dire
- dismal
Derived terms
- sombrish
- sombrely
- sombresome
Translations
dark; gloomy, dimly lit
|
dull or dark in colour
|
melancholy; dismal
|
grave
|
Noun
sombre (uncountable)
- (obsolete) Gloom; obscurity; duskiness.
Verb
sombre (third-person singular simple present sombres, present participle sombring, simple past and past participle sombred)
- To make sombre or dark; to make shady.
References
- “sombre”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
- Douglas Harper (2001–2023), “sombre”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
- sombre in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
Anagrams
- Bomers, bromes, ombres, somber
French
Etymology
From Old French sombre, likely from Latin sub umbra (“in/under the shade”); compare Spanish and Portuguese sombra (“shade, shadow”). Possibly derived through a verb *sombrer, from a Vulgar Latin *subumbrāre (“to shade, enshadow”), though this does not seem necessary. Compare also Old French essombre, with a different prefix.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /sɔ̃bʁ/
audio (file)
Adjective
sombre (plural sombres)
- dark
- Synonyms: foncé, obscur
- Antonym: clair
- (derogatory) right, damn, bloody
- un sombre crétin ― a prize idiot, a complete idiot, an unspeakable imbecile
Derived terms
- coupe sombre
- matière sombre
Related terms
- ombre
Descendants
- → English: sombre
Verb
sombre
- inflection of sombrer:
- first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
- second-person singular imperative
Further reading
- “sombre”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Anagrams
- ombres
Norman
Etymology
From Old French sombre, from a verb *sombrer (from a Vulgar Latin *subumbrāre), or from Latin sub (“under”) + umbra (“shadow”).
Adjective
sombre m or f
- (Jersey) sombre, dark
Spanish
Verb
sombre
- inflection of sombrar:
- first/third-person singular present subjunctive
- third-person singular imperative