as in somber
causing or marked by an atmosphere lacking in cheer
the men awaiting interrogation by the police shared a saturnine silence
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Recent Examples of saturnine
The mood is too saturnine, the occasional nods to social criticism too stilted.
—
Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic, 27 Jan. 2022
Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic, 27 Jan. 2022
Recent Examples of Synonyms for saturnine
Adjective
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Chapple, the late Queen’s beekeeper, went first to Clarence House and then Buckingham Palace to perform his somber duty of telling the bees, a centuries-old custom of informing the bees when their owner has died.—
Elizabeth Bass Parman,
PEOPLE,
7 Sep. 2025
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News voices in the 1970's tended to be somber, accent-less, and almost exclusively male.—
Scott Simon,
NPR,
6 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Of course as their cross-country road trip progresses and Felice racks up first-round-loss after first-round-loss, Gatti’s louche lifestyle is revealed to have a darker, more depressive aspect.—
Jessica Kiang,
Variety,
6 Sep. 2025
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These issues ranged from academic difficulties and disruptive behaviors to depressive moods.—
Jack Beresford,
MSNBC Newsweek,
4 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Yes, there are good reasons to question NASA's long-term plans for the Artemis lunar program—the woeful cost of the Space Launch System rocket, the complexity of new commercial landers, and a bleak budget outlook.—
Stephen Clark,
ArsTechnica,
12 Sep. 2025
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That's rather bleak, while Charlie Sheen's life has just been bonkers.—
Brian Truitt,
USA Today,
12 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Interestingly, Lorraine has taught Judy to ward off her frightening visions by using a nursery rhyme, effectively teaching her to suppress her dark side.—
Dani Di Placido,
Forbes.com,
10 Sep. 2025
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The Dolphins wear white jerseys at home for afternoon games, forcing opponents to wear darker colors that absorb more heat.—
Barry Jackson,
Miami Herald,
9 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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His work in those early days bears little resemblance to the crystalline large-format portraits of lonely American landscapes that would come to define his career.—
Chris Wiley,
New Yorker,
9 Sep. 2025
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Quarterback is an isolating and lonely position, despite entire infrastructures reverse-engineered in service of those who play it, to say nothing of the elaborate playbooks created for them.—
Seth Wickersham,
The Atlantic,
8 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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His relentless prepackaged positivity — even in the wake of depressing game day results — turned him into something of a punch line.—
Ian O'Connor,
New York Times,
11 Sep. 2025
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The depressing effect of the seasonality is somewhat offset by the ‘5’ effect.—
Bill Sarubbi,
Forbes.com,
10 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Silksong is steeped in religious imagery — desolate chapels, ringing church bells, even rosary beads that act as in-game currency.—
Keller Gordon,
NPR,
8 Sep. 2025
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Her haunting soprano ranged from desolate whispers to expansive belts.—
Audrey Gibbs,
Nashville Tennessean,
3 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Instead of those memories, survivors are left with the morbid archives of loss.—
Seema Jilani
August 29,
Literary Hub,
29 Aug. 2025
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There are visual gags — case files scattered around jigsaw puzzle pieces, conversations about blood loss interrupted by Sudoku solving — that insist on finding humor in a pair of old folks taking such morbid extracurricular activities so seriously.—
Manuel Betancourt,
Variety,
22 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Saturnine.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/saturnine. Accessed 14 Sep. 2025.
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