Synonyms of somber

somber

adjective

ˈsäm-bər 

variants or sombre

1

as in darkened

being without light or without much light

the prison's somber interrogation room has the desired effect of striking fear and despair into the prisoner

Synonyms & Similar Words

• darkened
• dark
• murky
• black
• gloomy
• obscured
• dusky
• dim
• dimmed
• dusk
• obscure
• darkish
• darkling
• lightless
• unlit
• pitch-black
• stygian
• darksome
• pitch-dark
• tenebrous
• pitchy
• caliginous
• rayless
• crepuscular
• twilit
• gray
• tenebrific
• misty
• lackluster
• shadowy
• moonless
• starless
• dulled
• shady
• pale
• cloudy
• clouded
• dull
• leaden
• foggy
• smoggy
• fuliginous
• sunless
• shadowlike
• soupy
• befogged
• beclouded

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• light
• bright
• brilliant
• luminous
• lucid
• illuminated
• lit
• shining
• sparkling
• radiant
• lightsome
• brightened
• illumined
• resplendent
• lucent
• incandescent
• glaring
• glowing
• lambent
• effulgent
• alight
• beaming
• glossy
• lustrous
• beamy
• shiny
• aglitter
• sunlit
• highlighted
• moonlit
• agleam
• relucent
• moony
• ultrabright
• ablaze
• spotlighted
• starlit
• floodlit

2

as in bleak

causing or marked by an atmosphere lacking in cheer

the somber occasion of a dear friend's funeral

Synonyms & Similar Words

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

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of somber

Back then, it was painted in a somber shade of Battleship Grey and, surprisingly, built without a customer order. — Howard Walker, Robb Report, 28 Oct. 2026

The daughter of a brass tree guest told me that on the last day, her mother pulled her aside and offered a somber warning. — Kate Berlant, Condé Nast Traveler, 22 Oct. 2026

Miller's new ad opens with a somber sequence of close-ups of various people's faces as the congressman talks about how divorce affects families. — Lara Korte The Washington Post, Arkansas Online, 18 Oct. 2026

The joy and innocence that greeted students and teachers on their return to school in early September has been lost, replaced by a somber and quiet aura. — Ray Sanchez, CNN Money, 18 Oct. 2026