1
as in somber
causing or marked by an atmosphere lacking in cheer
the diner's dim lighting makes eating there a particularly lugubrious experience
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in mournful
expressing or suggesting mourning
in Victorian times, people who could affect particularly lugubrious expressions were hired to march in funeral processions as professional mourners
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of lugubrious
In one lugubrious sequence in which various members of Willie’s children’s generation take part in a pickleball tournament, the young men attempt to trash-talk one another.
—
Daniel D'addario, Variety, 1 June 2025
Jesus and Mahavira: lanky, lugubrious men, asking me to choose between them.
—Tishani Doshi, New York Times, 18 May 2025
Despite its lugubrious atmosphere, the characters’ problems could now be cleared up with some penicillin and, say, a book club.
—Helen Shaw, The New Yorker, 13 Mar. 2025
The locker room was far from lugubrious following an indicting 114-98 loss Tuesday to the weary and mediocre Miami Heat.
—Marcus Thompson Ii, The Athletic, 8 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for lugubrious
Daniel D'addario, Variety, 1 June 2025
Jesus and Mahavira: lanky, lugubrious men, asking me to choose between them.
—Tishani Doshi, New York Times, 18 May 2025
Despite its lugubrious atmosphere, the characters’ problems could now be cleared up with some penicillin and, say, a book club.
—Helen Shaw, The New Yorker, 13 Mar. 2025
The locker room was far from lugubrious following an indicting 114-98 loss Tuesday to the weary and mediocre Miami Heat.
—Marcus Thompson Ii, The Athletic, 8 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for lugubrious
Recent Examples of Synonyms for lugubrious
Adjective
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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
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News voices in the 1970's tended to be somber, accent-less, and almost exclusively male.—
Scott Simon,
NPR,
6 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Similarly, the discreetly mournful compositions of Giorgio Matteo and Aki Oliviero’s score hover politely on the periphery of the (in)action, careful not to intrude.—
Jessica Kiang,
Variety,
4 Sep. 2025
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His narration is a constant pleasure — mournful, wry, and suffused with a world-weary poetry.—
Leila Latif,
IndieWire,
31 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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Matters only got more bleak in the sixth, when Rushing fouled a ball off his right shin, smoking a ball right above where his guard ended and immediately going down in pain.—
Fabian Ardaya,
New York Times,
6 Sep. 2025
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The one constant is the unhappy couple’s bleak surroundings.—
Adam Solomons,
IndieWire,
5 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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And every day, across from them, outside the clinic, about to enter or just leaving, there were women hugging each other and weeping.—
David Mamet,
National Review,
11 Aug. 2022
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The show manages to stay on the brink — always laughing, never quite weeping — for its entire length.—
Helen Shaw,
Vulture,
8 Dec. 2021
Adjective
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In women at risk of postpartum depression, changes in peripartum levels of the neurosteroid have been associated with depressive symptoms.—
Alyssa Goldberg,
USA Today,
3 Sep. 2025
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It is largely characterized by manic episodes (periods of elation and hyperactivity), which are then followed by depressive episodes (sadness and depression).—
Cara Lynn Shultz,
People.com,
2 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Following the boy’s death, donors raised about $30,000 in a GoFundMe campaign launched to help with funeral expenses.—
Christy Gutowski,
Chicago Tribune,
2 Sep. 2025
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Both Ahmed and Karia spoke of family members having seen ghosts at funeral ceremonies, which made sense of the visitations Hamlet’s father makes after death.—
Baz Bamigboye,
Deadline,
29 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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Compelling, sure, but more depressing than funny.—
Fran Hoepfner,
Vulture,
5 Sep. 2025
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The news is depressing, and now the Tribune is ignoring what is, for those who are not sports fans, their leading form of entertainment.—
Chicago Tribune,
Chicago Tribune,
1 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Hill’s 21-year-old son told WXYZ that his whole family is heartbroken.—
Jennifer Rodriguez,
Kansas City Star,
4 Sep. 2025
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Over the past half-decade, the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival has been called off three times, leaving behind unrealized lineups, swampy farmlands, and heartbroken fans.—
Audrey Gibbs,
The Tennessean,
3 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Lugubrious.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/lugubrious. Accessed 8 Sep. 2025.
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