somber

Adjective

sombre (comparative sombrer, superlative sombrest)

1. (Canada, UK) Dark; gloomy; shadowy, dimly lit.
   • The lady led him into a sombre hallway and disappeared. A moment later the windowless chamber was illuminated by the entry of a heavenly creature emitting a radiance prone to pierce the heart of any youth exposed to it.2015, Hermann Kauders, Before The Cock Crows, →ISBN, page 9

   Synonyms:

   bleak, dreary, cheerless, comfortless, dark, morose, depressing, desolate, dire, disconsolate

2. (Canada, UK) Dull or dark in colour or brightness.
   • His tall and slender figure, dressed in sombre black, his hair of that peculiar reddish auburn so rarely seen, his flashing black eyes, in which a fitful fire seemed for ever burning; all combined to give something almost of a demoniac air ...1877, The Black Band; or, The Mysteries of Midnight, page 47

   Synonyms:

   fuscous, inky, adumbral, blear, caliginous, cimmerian, crepuscular, dark, darksome, darkling

3. (Canada, UK) Melancholic, gloomy, dreary, dismal; grim.
   • The dinner was silent and sombre; happily it was also short.1845, B[enjamin] Disraeli, Sybil; or The Two Nations. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC

   Synonyms:

   despondent, unhappy, atrabiliary, atrabilious, blitheless, dispirited, blue, bummed out, chapfallen, cheerless

4. (Canada, UK) Grave; extremely serious.
   • a sombre situation

   Synonyms:

   earnest, staid, austere, frightful, demure, serious, grave, grievous, lack-laughter, thoughtful

See all 6 meanings of sombre