somberly


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som·ber

 (sŏm′bər)
adj.
1.
a. Dark; gloomy: a somber room.
b. Dull or dark in color: somber hues.
2.
a. Melancholy; dismal: a somber mood.
b. Serious; grave: a somber spokesperson.

[French sombre, from Old French, from *sombrer, to cast a shadow, from Late Latin subumbrāre, from Latin sub umbrā, in shadow : sub, under; see sub- + umbrā, ablative of umbra, shadow.]

som′ber·ly adv.
som′ber·ness n.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Adv.1.somberly - in a somber manner; "`That's sure bad news,' said Dowd, somberly"
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
References in classic literature ?
On one small table tea things and supper dishes stood in disorder, and in the middle of the night a motley throng of people sat there, not merrymaking, but somberly whispering, and betraying by every word and movement that they none of them forgot what was happening and what was about to happen in the bedroom.
A man entered, dressed somberly in black, whose bearing and demeanour alike denoted the servant, but whose physique was the physique of a prize-fighter.
"That's the way with all of them," Billy growled somberly. "I've always noticed it's the fastidious, la-de-da ones that turn out the rottenest.
Marija sat for a minute or two, brooding somberly. "Tell me about yourself, Jurgis," she said, suddenly.
Ryusuke Sekino was shown on Japanese TV on Friday sitting in his mother's arms, looking somberly around at media cameras.
Lenard Macorol, 19, lit two candles and stood somberly in front of Kian's tomb.
But the contest, which will be held in May in Portugal, is the sort of thing that thirty billion people, give or take, tune in to watch, and which is studied and discussed as diligently and somberly as battles, assassinations, and coronations.
Vuillard has become adept at this type of historical investigation, which generally alternates between a somberly gripping narration and a more sardonic retelling of relatively minor events.
Parts per Million veers back to the early 2000s, as America somberly moves into a new millennium already shadowed by 9/11 and the war in Iraq.
It is comical and sobering at the same time to watch two pretty fair gunmen hurry just a little too much and wind up with empty cylinders in both guns and the clock still whirling around while untouched targets stare somberly back.
ae1/4oeToday we somberly mark the thirty-fifth anniversary of the massacre of innocent Palestinian civilians in the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps in West Beirut that took place between September 15-18, 1982 with the collusion and support of the Israeli army under Ariel Sharon who left a legacy of bloodshed and destruction,ae1/4Ci she said.
Ashrawi said, "Today we somberly mark the thirty-fifth anniversary of the massacre of innocent Palestinian civilians in the Sabra and Shatila ...