LUGUBRIOUS: "Mournful; indicating sorrow, often in a way that seems feigned, exaggerated, or ridiculous."

By MsW

a man looking sad

"Lugubrious" is an adjective used to describe something that is mournful, gloomy, or excessively sad, often in a way that is exaggerated or overly theatrical.

Etymology: The word "lugubrious" has Latin origins. It is derived from the Latin word "lugubris," which means "mournful" or "pertaining to mourning."

Sample Sentences:

  1. The lugubrious melody of the funeral dirge echoed through the church.

  2. His lugubrious expression conveyed the deep sorrow he felt after the loss.

  3. The play ended on a lugubrious note, leaving the audience in tears.

  4. The lugubrious atmosphere of the abandoned house gave it an eerie feeling.

  5. Despite the festive occasion, her lugubrious mood cast a shadow over the celebration.

Synonyms: mournful, doleful, melancholy, funereal

Antonyms: cheerful, upbeat, joyful, merry, lighthearted


lugubrious \lu-GOO-bree-us; -GYOO-\, adjective:
1. Mournful; indicating sorrow, often in a way that seems feigned, exaggerated, or ridiculous.
2. Gloomy; dismal.
Oh yes, he says, and his lugubrious expression suggests that the loss afflicts him still.
-- Mary Riddell, New Statesman, September 19, 1997

His patriarchy often seemed lugubrious; he would often have tears in his eyes when elucidating all my failings.
-- Richard Elman, Namedropping: Mostly Literary Memoirs

He was looking out at the green whorls of English fields and English woods, at the enchanting chalky blue of the English sky, and wondering if this tilled and agreeable little country might not be just the place for a man to revive himself, to shake off those morbid dawn vigils, those nights when it seemed some demonic lapdog crouched on his chest, panting into his face; those lugubrious moods that had troubled him ever since Munich like a cough one could never quite be rid of ...
-- Andrew Miller, Casanova in Love 

Previous visits hadn't yielded this art-after-death aura, which had everything to do with two installations on display, work so lugubrious it cast a pall over . . . well, just over me, but dark clouds hovered above the city, and the gloomy weather might as well have emanated from the art.
-- Bernard Cooper, "The Uses of the Ghoulish", Los Angeles Magazine, February 2001

The radio slid from mournful to downright lugubrious. Ridiculously lugubrious. There was even sobbing in the background. Talk about melodramatic.

--Molly Mcrae, LAST WOOL AND TESTAMENT, 2012 


Lugubrious comes from Latin lugubris, from lugere, to mourn. 
Word of the Day Archive
Tuesday May 27, 2003
 

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