lugubrious

WOTD – 6 December 2006    

English

Etymology

From Latin lūgubris (“mournful; gloomy”)

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ləˈɡuːbriəs/

• Audio (US)

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Adjective

lugubrious (comparative more lugubrious, superlative most lugubrious)

1. gloomy, mournful or dismal, especially to an exaggerated degree.

   The poor lighting and sparse maintenance, plus the rarefied traffic on its wide boulevards, made the effect of Pyongyang on the tourist distinctly lugubrious.

   His client's lugubrious expression tipped off the detective that something lurked beneath her optimistic words.

Translations

gloomy

• French: lugubre (fr)
• German: düster (de), kummervoll (de)
• Icelandic: raunamæddur (is) m, hryggðar- (is), sorgar- (is), sorgbitinn (is)
• Italian: lugubre (it)
• Latin: lūgubris (la)

• Romanian: lugubru (ro)
• Russian: скорбный (ru) (skorbnyi) m, печальный (ru) (pechalnyi) m, мрачный (ru) (mrachnyi) m, траурный (ru) (traurnyi) m
• Spanish: lúgubre (es), triste (es)
• Swedish: dyster (sv)