somber

[som-ber] / ˈsɒm bər /

ADJECTIVE

sad, depressing

Synonyms

STRONGEST

bleak dark dull earnest funereal gloomy grim melancholy mournful sedate serious sober solemn weighty

WEAK

black blue caliginous cloudy depressive dim dingy dire dismal dispiriting doleful down drab dragged dreary dusky grave hurting joyless lugubrious murky no-nonsense obscure sepulchral shadowy shady sourpuss staid tenebrous

Antonyms

STRONGEST

bright cheerful encouraging excited flippant funny happy hopeful joyful light lively luminous sunny trivial unimportant unserious vivacious

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Instead, in a sign of the times that seems impossibly quaint in the harsh light of 2026, she issued a somber mea culpa.

From Slate • May 6, 2026

Activists held a gathering of US lawmakers on Thursday at the somber display located a stone's throw from the Capitol, with a simple plea: "Bring Them Home."

From Barron's • Apr. 23, 2026

One segment of the doc pulls from a somber video from the LAPD’s Hollenbeck division that describes Dead City’s Boyle Heights show in a “Critical Incident Community Briefing.”

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 15, 2026

This somber gamble was the consequence of the two-pronged invasion of Poland, in September 1939, by Germany from the west and the Soviet Union from the east.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 7, 2026

He glanced out the bright windows, then boomed, “Even the sunshine is somber today, brothers and sisters, when we see Miss Myrt Arbuckle on her final journey, as she swaps semesters for eternity.”

From "The Teacher’s Funeral" by Richard Peck

Vocabulary lists containing somber

100 Words Every Middle Schooler Should Know

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List 1

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The SAT: Words to Capture Tone, List 3

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