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
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
Chapple, the late Queen’s beekeeper, went first to Clarence House and then Buckingham Palace to perform his somber duty of telling the bees, a centuries-old custom of informing the bees when their owner has died.
—Elizabeth Bass Parman, PEOPLE, 7 Sep. 2025
News voices in the 1970's tended to be somber, accent-less, and almost exclusively male.
—Scott Simon, NPR, 6 Sep. 2025
Reviewers laud the murder-mystery’s Gothic elements, contrasting the Netflix movie’s more somber tone with Glass Onion‘s distinctly campy vibe.
—Natalie Oganesyan, Deadline, 6 Sep. 2025
The long sordid legal saga came to a somber end in January 2024 when Kenneth Eugene Smith was executed via nitrogen gas in Alabama after being convicted in a murder-for-hire plot.
—Cynthia Littleton, Variety, 4 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for somber
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Elizabeth Bass Parman, PEOPLE, 7 Sep. 2025
News voices in the 1970's tended to be somber, accent-less, and almost exclusively male.
—Scott Simon, NPR, 6 Sep. 2025
Reviewers laud the murder-mystery’s Gothic elements, contrasting the Netflix movie’s more somber tone with Glass Onion‘s distinctly campy vibe.
—Natalie Oganesyan, Deadline, 6 Sep. 2025
The long sordid legal saga came to a somber end in January 2024 when Kenneth Eugene Smith was executed via nitrogen gas in Alabama after being convicted in a murder-for-hire plot.
—Cynthia Littleton, Variety, 4 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for somber
Cite this Entry
“Somber.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/somber. Accessed 11 Sep. 2025.
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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