lugubrious

adjective

lu·gu·bri·ous lu̇-ˈgü-brē-əs

also -ˈgyü-

: mournful

especially : exaggeratedly or affectedly (see affected entry 2 sense 1a) mournful

dark, dramatic and lugubrious brooding

V. S. Pritchett

the tour de force of lugubrious cliche is ten times longer than this review

Martin Amis

: dismal

a lugubrious landscape

lugubrious cello music

lugubriously adverb

lugubriousness noun

Example Sentences

a comic actor known for his lugubrious manner the diner's dim lighting makes eating there a particularly lugubrious experience

Recent Examples on the Web The place is becoming a gallery-style living room for local artists who have spent the past week installing their works within this cavernous, at times both lugubrious and theatrical Victorian interior.

Jacques Kelly, Baltimore Sun, 12 Nov. 2022 The film is a mess of tones and ideas, lugubrious splatter-movie violence mixed with a confused desire to appeal to the Stranger Things demographic.

Declan Gallagher, EW.com, 20 Oct. 2022 Complementing its lugubrious thump is a peak torque rating of 116 ft lbs at 3,000 rpm.

Jeff Buchanan, Robb Report, 6 Oct. 2022 An English horn then doubles the singer as the other winds unfold that lugubrious kaleidoscope of disconnected chords.

Alex Ross, The New Yorker, 6 Oct. 2022 Practically every scene works toward the same goal, to the same lugubrious, narcoticized rhythm.

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune, 21 Sep. 2022 The film is in part lugubrious in its longing for obsolescent objects, in its yearning for years before iPhones (with which the crisis of the film would otherwise be more easily solved).

Dini Adanurani, Variety, 9 Aug. 2022 Part of the problem: the generally lugubrious choice of musical material.

New York Times, 13 June 2022 Wall Street’s lugubrious mood dragged into Friday, with the major U.S. indexes on track to extend their losses a day after registering their steepest slump since the beginning of the pandemic.

Washington Post, 6 May 2022 See More

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'lugubrious.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.