lugubrious

Definition

Gloomy, mournful or dismal, especially to an exaggerated degree.

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin lūgubris (“mournful; gloomy”), with the suffix -ious.

Example Sentences

• "His client’s lugubrious expression tipped off the detective that something lurked beneath her optimistic words."
• "The exaggeration with darkness imparted to the glooms of this region impressed Henchard more than he had expected. The lugubrious harmony of the spot with his domestic situation was too perfect for him, impatient of effects, scenes, and adumbrations."
• "There was a touch of insanity in the proceeding, a sense of lugubrious drollery in the sight; and it was not dissipated by somebody on board assuring me earnestly there was a camp of natives—he called them enemies!—hidden out of sight somewhere."