Synonym Chooser

How is the word saturnine different from other adjectives like it?

Some common synonyms of saturnine are crabbed, gloomy, glum, morose, sulky, sullen, and surly. While all these words mean "showing a forbidding or disagreeable mood," saturnine describes a heavy forbidding aspect or suggests a bitter disposition.

a saturnine cynic always finding fault

When is crabbed a more appropriate choice than saturnine?

The synonyms crabbed and saturnine are sometimes interchangeable, but crabbed applies to a forbidding morose harshness of manner.

the school's notoriously crabbed headmaster

In what contexts can gloomy take the place of saturnine?

The words gloomy and saturnine are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, gloomy implies a depression in mood making for seeming sullenness or glumness.

a gloomy mood ushered in by bad news

When can glum be used instead of saturnine?

While the synonyms glum and saturnine are close in meaning, glum suggests a silent dispiritedness.

a glum candidate left to ponder a stunning defeat

How do morose and glum relate to one another, in the sense of saturnine?

Morose adds to glum an element of bitterness or misanthropy.

morose job seekers who are inured to rejection

When could sulky be used to replace saturnine?

In some situations, the words sulky and saturnine are roughly equivalent. However, sulky suggests childish resentment expressed in peevish sullenness.

grew sulky after every spat

When would sullen be a good substitute for saturnine?

Although the words sullen and saturnine have much in common, sullen implies a silent ill humor and a refusal to be sociable.

remained sullen amid the festivities

Where would surly be a reasonable alternative to saturnine?

The words surly and saturnine can be used in similar contexts, but surly implies gruffness and sullenness of speech or manner.

a typical surly teenager

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of saturnine The mood is too saturnine, the occasional nods to social criticism too stilted. Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic, 27 Jan. 2022
Recent Examples of Synonyms for saturnine
Adjective
  • The work’s third movement offers an intriguing pizzicato section, as well moments of discordant — though not somber — unease.
    Sheila Regan, Twin Cities, 11 July 2025
  • On Wednesday, hundreds prayed, wept and held one another at a prayer service, among the first of many somber gatherings to come in the weeks ahead.
    Nadia Lathan, Los Angeles Times, 10 July 2025
Adjective
  • There was also a 28% lower risk of falls, and a 22% lower incidence of depressive symptoms.
    New Atlas, New Atlas, 26 July 2025
  • A couple of small trials have even shown that following the Med diet for a few weeks may soften the severity of depressive symptoms in people who already have them.
    Erica Sloan, SELF, 25 July 2025
Adjective
  • The reversal is notable because this traditionally bleak indicator had been trending more positively under Trump's second term—until now.
    Martha McHardy, MSNBC Newsweek, 18 July 2025
  • Restaurants were closed, staff were furloughed, and the broad outlook on the hospitality industry’s future was, in a word, bleak.
    Lela London, Forbes.com, 18 July 2025
Adjective
  • Transformed into a swan by the evil sorcerer Rothbart, Odette and Siegfried's love faces an impossible battle against dark forces.
    Maggie Menderski, The Courier-Journal, 22 July 2025
  • The other dark money entity paying for ads that promote a candidate is 5Plus1, which has been spending oodles on billboards and campaign literature mailed to Detroiters that promote Sheffield, the city council president.
    M.L. Elrick, Freep.com, 21 July 2025
Adjective
  • Horgan’s Eva Garvey is funny and nurturing and grounded but also quite lonely and bitter, a character whose love and bile hold Bad Sisters together.
    Judy Berman, Time, 15 July 2025
  • Even the psychological pain can be hard to fathom, especially for those who have never truly been lonely.
    Paul Bloom, New Yorker, 14 July 2025
Adjective
  • For women, the situation is even more depressing with 90% of women excluded from the workforce, unable to work outside their homes.
    Natasha Lindstaedt, Forbes.com, 17 July 2025
  • And blame can be depressing; accepting responsibility for something that went terribly wrong is often painful and embarrassing.
    Olga Khazan, The Atlantic, 14 July 2025
Adjective
  • Padam and Tulsi, whose remote Himalayan village has become increasingly desolate as families migrate to cities, leaving the pair to wonder who will perform their last rites.
    Variety Staff, Variety, 25 July 2025
  • Imagine how desolate the Democrats are that a Democrat running on affordability is an anti-establishment Democrat.
    Ted Reed, Forbes.com, 16 July 2025
Adjective
  • The show also has some critics, including viewers who accuse it of being overly morbid.
    New York Times, New York Times, 22 July 2025
  • Recognizing the attraction people have to scary films, the band hit on the novel idea to translate the morbid thrill of Grand Guignol to rock ‘n roll.
    Jim Farber, Billboard, 22 July 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Saturnine.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/saturnine. Accessed 29 Jul. 2025.

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