tenebrous
adjective
Did you know?
Tenebrous can mean both “obscure” and “murky,” but its history is crystal clear. Etymologists know that the word comes from the Latin noun tenebrae, meaning “darkness.” Tenebrous has been used in English since the 15th century, and in subsequent centuries has been joined by some interesting and even less common relations. Tenebrionid is the name that may be given to any of at least 20,000 species of mostly nocturnal beetles, also called darkling beetles, many of whom love inhabiting dark places. Tenebrism refers to a style of painting—associated especially with the Italian painter Caravaggio—in which most of the figures are engulfed in shadow while some are dramatically illuminated by concentrated light. And let’s not forget the terrific tenebrific, a tenebrous synonym.
Examples of tenebrous in a Sentence
The Know, Denver Post, 31 Aug. 2025
For all its darkness, Mujica Lainez’s Duke of Bomarzo is a lantern that illuminates the place and period that brought us modernity and, as such, our tenebrous but also brilliant little lives.
—Literary Hub, 8 Aug. 2025
What tenebrous horror is this, emerging from the ineffable darkness?
—Jon Chesto, BostonGlobe.com, 26 Dec. 2022
By the same token, Spanish cinema at large has been reluctant to engage with that tenebrous period.
—Carlos Aguilar, Los Angeles Times, 30 Dec. 2021
As in the 1610 version, Susanna is seated on a balustrade, but this time there is a tenebrous sky, rather than a clear blue one.
—Rebecca Mead, The New Yorker, 28 Sep. 2020
Natalie Erika James' assured first feature demonstrates bracing command of atmospherics, from its tenebrous visuals and labyrinthine production design to its nerve-jangling use of music and a thick soundscape stew of bumps, creaks, thuds and groans.
—David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 27 Jan. 2020
Cite this Entry
“Tenebrous.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tenebrous. Accessed 3 Nov. 2025.
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