1
as in darkened
being without light or without much light
a tenebrous night with no moon
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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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Recent Examples of tenebrous
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
Natalie Erika James' assured first feature demonstrates bracing command of atmospherics, from its tenebrous visuals and labyrinthine production design to its nerve-jangling use of music and a thick soundscape stew of bumps, creaks, thuds and groans.
—David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 27 Jan. 2020
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
Natalie Erika James' assured first feature demonstrates bracing command of atmospherics, from its tenebrous visuals and labyrinthine production design to its nerve-jangling use of music and a thick soundscape stew of bumps, creaks, thuds and groans.
—David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 27 Jan. 2020
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tenebrous
Adjective
-
Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui posted a video to X over the weekend, showing a dazzling view of auroras spreading like a tall blanket over the darkened Earth below.—
Josh Dinner,
Space.com,
15 Jan. 2026
-
Over the weekend, around 16,000 people paid their respects to the designer at his funeral chamber at the Armani Teatro designed by Tadao Ando, filled with white flowers and paper lanterns on the floor in a diagonal grid formation dimly lit up the darkened venue.—
Luisa Zargani,
Footwear News,
10 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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The activist also went full glam on her flight, looking radiant in bronzy makeup, complete with dark eyeliner, fluttery eyelashes, fluffy eyebrows, luminous skin, and glossy lips.—
Christina Perrier,
InStyle,
10 Feb. 2026
-
More dark, romantic beauty inspiration.—
Jesa Marie Calaor,
Allure,
10 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
But in the murky intermediate regime, the full quantum complexity of each electron plays a role, and the problem is classically intractable.—
IEEE Spectrum,
IEEE Spectrum,
4 Feb. 2026
-
There were a lot of murky secrets in the Victorian world.—
Jackson McHenry,
Vulture,
4 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
Internet connectivity has been partially restored, but experts are warning that, even on the other side of the digital blackout, the outlook for Iranian internet access remains bleak.—
Kevin Liptak,
CNN Money,
5 Feb. 2026
-
In Havana, reaction to the president's upcoming contingency plan to grapple with fuel shortages was bleak.—
Orlando Matos,
NBC news,
5 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Guthrie's three children also shared a somber and tearful plea that evening, asking for their mother to be returned home after her disappearance, now in its fifth day.—
Helen Rummel,
AZCentral.com,
5 Feb. 2026
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The western Maryland battleground still carries a somber, haunting energy, a reminder of the war’s steep cost.—
Torrey Snow,
Baltimore Sun,
4 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Dementia risk goes up by 40%, diabetes risk goes up 35% from being chronically lonely.—
Deborah Vankin,
Los Angeles Times,
9 Feb. 2026
-
Doing a documentary sometimes is really lonely.—
Georg Szalai,
HollywoodReporter,
6 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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What did this new study examine, and why did researchers focus on individual depressive symptoms instead of depression overall?—
Katia Hetter,
CNN Money,
6 Feb. 2026
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Santa Claus, onstage with a kitsch midcentury silver tree, has a depressive meltdown.—
Laura Regensdorf,
Vogue,
4 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Tennyson spent the rest of his life returning to that desolate seascape, literally but also literarily.—
Kathryn Schulz,
New Yorker,
9 Feb. 2026
-
The word that came to mind was desolate.—
Ken Harbaugh,
The Atlantic,
9 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Tenebrous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tenebrous. Accessed 11 Feb. 2026.
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