Synonyms of saturnine

saturnine

adjective

ˈsa-tər-ˌnīn 

as in depressive

causing or marked by an atmosphere lacking in cheer

the men awaiting interrogation by the police shared a saturnine silence

Synonyms & Similar Words

• depressive
• bleak
• somber
• dark
• lonely
• depressing
• solemn
• darkening
• desolate
• morbid
• murky
• gray
• lonesome
• cold
• sullen
• morose
• blue
• black
• miserable
• lugubrious
• depressed
• funereal
• gloomy
• cheerless
• sepulchral
• wretched
• glum
• elegiac
• chill
• melancholy
• disconsolate
• forlorn
• oppressive
• dire
• dreary
• dismal
• sad
• cloudy
• tenebrous
• comfortless
• plutonian
• drear
• dreich
• melancholic
• Cimmerian
• mournful
• unhappy
• godforsaken
• desperate
• woebegone
• sunless
• menacing
• mirthless
• dim
• hangdog
• despondent
• dull
• negative
• grim
• hopeless
• dejected
• tenebrific
• pessimistic
• droopy
• low
• inconsolable
• woeful
• distressful
• discouraging
• dour
• dismaying
• dispiriting
• sorrowful
• upsetting
• distressing
• plaintive
• discomfiting
• down
• lamentable
• drab
• colorless
• disheartening
• threatening
• lowering
• lowery

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• cheerful
• friendly
• bright
• cordial
• cheery
• gay
• comforting
• festive
• jolly
• sunshiny
• buoyant
• merry
• joyous
• mirthful
• joyful
• blithe
• gay
• optimistic
• hopeful
• encouraging
• blithesome
• jocund
• cheering
• heartwarming
• lighthearted
• lightsome

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

Recent Examples of saturnine

The movie is 40 years old now, and my perception is that more and more people have discovered it, have entered its heady realm of saturnine mystery. —Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 21 Feb. 2026

At the juncture between postwar noir and golden-age melodrama is Billy Wilder’s Sunset Boulevard, a saturnine elegy to a lost Hollywood of the silent era, when faces and charisma were more desirable than voices or talent. —Erik Morse, Vogue, 23 Oct. 2025

The mood is too saturnine, the occasional nods to social criticism too stilted. —Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic, 27 Jan. 2022

Podcast

Get Word of the Day delivered to your inbox!