1
as in darkened
being without light or without much light
a man unexpectedly emerged from the tenebrific shadows of the cave
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in dark
causing or marked by an atmosphere lacking in cheer
soldiers who had lived for months in the tenebrific trenches that stretched along the western front
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tenebrific
Adjective
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She’s talked up her push to convert darkened streetlights, many of them stripped of their copper wire, to solar power.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
1 June 2026 -
In the darkened foyer, Ember contemplated this unassuming bit of paper, momentarily paralyzed by a mixture of dread and excitement stirred together, an overpowering sensation that oozed from the crown of her head, down the length of her body, then hardened, like a soft golden resin becoming solid.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
1 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
If the second section presents the diagnosis, then in the footnote to Howl Ginsberg writes a prescription, because if we’re oppressed by a dark faith then the only antidote is a different one.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
3 June 2026
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Villains could hide in the giant banyan tree or lurk in the spookily dark new flotation room; a fight scene might involve someone crashing down the waterfall-wall in the centre of the wellness centre.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
2 June 2026
Adjective
-
Where the Cycle-Syncing Science Gets Complicated The picture gets murkier from there.—
Allison Palmer
June 4,
Kansas City Star,
4 June 2026
-
The sperm was banked after Epstein's conviction, which raises murky ethics issues in the fertility industry.—
Sheryl Estrada,
Fortune,
1 June 2026
Adjective
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Its trio, a lonely fox-deer, an axolotl apprentice healer and a red panda Viking, travel through a darkening natural world as the series folds identity, belonging and environmental crisis.—
Callum McLennan,
Variety,
1 June 2026
-
Brunson is hardly a lonely talent.—
David Remnick,
New Yorker,
30 May 2026
Adjective
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In the late 1960s and early ’70s, for example, Nilsson completed a series of silver ink drawings on black paper that nod to Indigenous Australian bark paintings.—
Jeremy Lybarger,
Artforum,
2 June 2026
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Qin Qin is an Asian fusion restaurant—available only to Diamond Club guests—whose menu blends Mayan ingredients with Asian staples, with dishes like Peking duck with black mole sauce, and cochinita pibil dumplings with yuzu foam and pickled red onions.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
2 June 2026
Adjective
-
For years, radical climate activists have painted a bleak view of the future.—
Editorial,
Boston Herald,
29 May 2026
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The bleak, desolate masterpiece from 1989’s Pretty Hate Machine was used to great effect in 1995’s Natural Born Killers, the first film soundtrack produced by Reznor.—
Al Shipley,
SPIN,
29 May 2026
Adjective
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Almost a year out to sea is very depressing.—
Steve Walsh,
NPR,
23 May 2026
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Some sendoffs are mundane; others are downright depressing.—
Michael Silver,
New York Times,
21 May 2026
Adjective
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There’s a somber scene in a new documentary about Patrick Kelly, where executive producers Jess Manning and Ray Cornelius are at the New York Public Library’s Schomburg Center, about to dive into research about the late fashion designer.—
Bianca Betancourt,
CNN Money,
2 June 2026
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But after seven episodes wearing down the viewer with a bleak perspective, in the season finale, Euphoria pulls itself out of its own somber patterns to reach for grace and mercy in Christian symbolism, American wholesomeness, and the concept of family.—
Rafaela Bassili,
Vulture,
1 June 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Tenebrific.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tenebrific. Accessed 6 Jun. 2026.
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