1
as in somber
causing or marked by an atmosphere lacking in cheer
the diner's dim lighting makes eating there a particularly lugubrious experience
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2
as in mournful
expressing or suggesting mourning
in Victorian times, people who could affect particularly lugubrious expressions were hired to march in funeral processions as professional mourners
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Recent Examples of lugubrious
Nobody says surfing the web anymore, but at the time the phrase made sense as a description of the lugubrious, often frustrating task of finding entertainment.
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Ian Bogost, The Atlantic, 25 Mar. 2024
The pop approach to music and politics is no less solemn than the lugubrious 1982 biopic Gandhi.
—Armond White, National Review, 16 Feb. 2024
The leading men are, likewise, a study in contrasts: Fiennes’s Macbeth is a hulking, lugubrious presence, whereas Tennant’s is a gaunt, energetic bundle of angst.
—Houman Barekat, New York Times, 19 Dec. 2023
The neighborhood boasted a lugubrious elevation and convenient proximity to a streetcar line.
—John Kelly, Washington Post, 15 July 2023
See all Example Sentences for lugubrious 
Recent Examples of Synonyms for lugubrious
Adjective
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Lego Horizon Adventures, available for PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch and PC, rebuilds 2017's Horizon Zero Dawn in the Lego universe, transforming the somber and complex Horizon into something simpler, a bit sillier and more kid-friendly.Felecia Wellington Radel, USA TODAY, 21 Nov. 2024
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This seems to be part of the reason The City and Its Uncertain Walls is such an unnaturally somber book.Bailey Trela, Vulture, 19 Nov. 2024
Adjective
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Very few directors working today can put across a movie like Gladiator II as convincingly, which perhaps explains why the sequel — for all its barbaric violence and the plaintive, at times stirring, discussions about justice and democracy — doesn’t have the mournful quality that the first film did.Jennifer Zhan, Vulture, 22 Nov. 2024
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Russell Crowe beating people to death in a soulful, mournful way?Bill Goodykoontz, The Arizona Republic, 20 Nov. 2024
Adjective
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As my colleague Meg James wrote, this is the latest bleak sign for the long-beleaguered pay-TV business, which continues to lose subscribers by the millions.Ryan Faughnder, Los Angeles Times, 26 Nov. 2024
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This ebullience, however, required keeping bleak thoughts at bay.Daniel Immerwahr, The New Yorker, 25 Nov. 2024
Adjective
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And every day, across from them, outside the clinic, about to enter or just leaving, there were women hugging each other and weeping.David Mamet, National Review, 11 Aug. 2022
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The show manages to stay on the brink — always laughing, never quite weeping — for its entire length.Helen Shaw, Vulture, 8 Dec. 2021
Adjective
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What’s more, twice as many people in the group that got the active treatment reported remission of their depressive symptoms compared with people in the placebo group: 45% vs. 22%.Brenda Goodman, CNN, 1 Nov. 2024
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While both psilocybin and escitalopram showed comparable improvement in depressive symptoms, people who took psilocybin reported greater joy in their lives — a significant plus in keeping depression at bay.Sandee LaMotte, CNN, 22 Oct. 2024
Adjective
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A little over a year later, Dallas County struck a similar deal, with one major difference: While Tarrant County families who couldn’t afford to make funeral arrangements were given an option to donate their relatives’ bodies to the center, Dallas County gave survivors no choice.Mike Hixenbaugh, NBC News, 16 Sep. 2024
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The deceased who are buried at the site would likely have been burnt on funeral pyres.Marco Rubio, Newsweek, 1 Nov. 2024
Adjective
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Thanks for following along. jen chaney Updated Nov. 5, 2024, 11:20 PM EST In all seriousness, this is depressing as hell Kornacki has been sharing a lot of percentage points and weird names of counties in the Midwest — Winnebago? — for the past five-plus hours.Jen Chaney, Vulture, 6 Nov. 2024
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Loading your audio article The national election news was downright depressing for many in the Bay Area, but there was a lot of cause for celebration among local candidates Tuesday night.Sal Pizarro, The Mercury News, 7 Nov. 2024
Adjective
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Monét began her tweet with five heartbroken emojis.Anna Chan, Billboard, 4 Nov. 2024
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Animal lovers have been left heartbroken by a dog who has already been adopted and returned to the shelter twice in her young life.David Faris, Newsweek, 3 Nov. 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Lugubrious.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/lugubrious. Accessed 3 Dec. 2024.
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