tenebrous

adjective

ˈte-nə-brəs How to pronounce tenebrous (audio)
Definition of tenebrousnext
1
as in darkened
being without light or without much light a tenebrous night with no moon

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in dark
causing or marked by an atmosphere lacking in cheer in the midst of those tenebrous days Thomas Paine penned the immortal words "These are the times that try men's souls"

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 tenebrous Their flowers stand out like no others due to the backdrop of their tenebrous leaves. — Joshua Siskin, Oc Register, 28 Mar. 2026 Her writing can be luminous or tenebrous as the mood requires. — The Know, Denver Post, 31 Aug. 2025 For all its darkness, Mujica Lainez’s Duke of Bomarzo is a lantern that illuminates the place and period that brought us modernity and, as such, our tenebrous but also brilliant little lives. — Literary Hub, 8 Aug. 2025 What tenebrous horror is this, emerging from the ineffable darkness? — Jon Chesto, BostonGlobe.com, 26 Dec. 2022 By the same token, Spanish cinema at large has been reluctant to engage with that tenebrous period. — Carlos Aguilar, Los Angeles Times, 30 Dec. 2021 As in the 1610 version, Susanna is seated on a balustrade, but this time there is a tenebrous sky, rather than a clear blue one. — Rebecca Mead, The New Yorker, 28 Sep. 2020
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tenebrous
  1. darkened
  2. dark
  3. murky
  4. bleak
  5. somber
  6. lonely
  7. depressive
  8. desolate
Adjective
  • This trend has been pretty pervasive among designer bags recently, with shoppers buying new Prada and Chanel bags with darkened leather to give them a used look, or sourcing vintage Celine bags with obvious signs of wear.
    — Irene Richardson, InStyle, 2 July 2026
  • 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
Definition of darkened
Adjective
  • The design featured an orange-and-black clown outfit, black gloves and a dark face covering with an exaggerated smiling mouth.
    — Rosemary Feitelberg, Footwear News, 24 Aug. 2026
  • Funky black garlic hides within that mushroom melange, and the pie arrives dotted with a dramatic, dark tamarind sauce.
    — The Bon Appétit Staff, Bon Appetit Magazine, 24 Aug. 2026
Definition of dark
Adjective
  • The presence of Jacory Croskey-Merritt, deep sleeper Kaytron Allen and White may make the Commanders backfield murkier than the Reflecting Pool, but their roles are clearer than most suspect.
    — Brad Evans, New York Times, 20 Aug. 2026
  • The situation is also murky for those living outside their favorite team’s region.
    — Jacob Feldman, Sportico.com, 20 Aug. 2026
Definition of murky
Adjective
  • The past summer in Russia has also been shaping up as a bleak season for Putin’s Russia.
    — Nathan Hodge, CNN Money, 23 Aug. 2026
  • Tyler Biadasz suffered a serious injury to his anterior cruciate ligament in practice this week, and the prognosis sounds bleak.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 21 Aug. 2026
Definition of bleak
Adjective
  • Bookended by drone shots of the Macedonian countryside and a somber cello refrain by Novogradska, this 86-minute doc is otherwise composed of scoreless interviews with subjects seated in front of black curtains and captured in medium range.
    — Beatrice Loayza, Variety, 21 Aug. 2026
  • After that horrible 2011 stab at the scifi superhero with Ryan Reynolds in it, Hal Jordan (played by Kyle Chandler) returns in a more somber but certainly enjoyable eight-episode series on HBO.
    — Randy Myers, Mercury News, 19 Aug. 2026
Definition of somber
Adjective
  • This generation is lonelier, more anxious and more depressed than any before it.
    — Tom Suozzi, Chicago Tribune, 24 Aug. 2026
  • Those who reported feeling lonely had a 14% higher risk of dying early than those who did not.
    — Amen Galinato, CNN Money, 23 Aug. 2026
Definition of lonely
Adjective
  • Most women with postpartum psychosis develop manic and depressive symptoms that can come close together or overlap.
    — Jen Christensen, CNN Money, 13 Aug. 2026
  • In a 2025 study of older parents, being cut off from an adult child was associated with poorer well-being and a reduced sense of purpose, as well as greater depressive symptoms.
    — Melissa Rudy, FOXNews.com, 11 Aug. 2026
Definition of depressive
Adjective
  • The desolate landscape and little human occupation thereafter helped preserve the rock art through centuries of exposure to wind, rain, and sun.
    — Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, 13 Aug. 2026
  • In July 1991, Gerard Dorsey was gunned down in an alley off North Brice Street in a desolate West Baltimore alley.
    — Mike Hellgren, CBS News, 5 Aug. 2026
Definition of desolate

Browse Nearby Words

tenebrific
tenebrous
tenement
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Cite this Entry

“Tenebrous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tenebrous. Accessed 27 Aug. 2026.

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