different between sombre vs plaintive
sombre
English
Etymology
Borrowed from French sombre (“dark”), from Old French sombre, from a verb *sombrer or Latin sub- + umbra. Compare Spanish sombra (“shade; dark part of a picture; ghost”).
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /?s?mb?/
- (General American) IPA(key): /?s?mb?/
- Rhymes: -?mb?(?)
- Hyphenation: som?bre
Adjective
sombre (comparative sombrer, superlative sombrest) (British spelling, Canadian spelling)
- Dark; gloomy; shadowy, dimly lit.
- 2015, Hermann Kauders, Before The Cock Crows (?ISBN), page 9:
- 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:
- Dull or dark in colour or brightness.
- 1877, The Black Band; or, The Mysteries of Midnight, page 47:
- 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:
- Melancholic, gloomy, dreary, dismal; grim.
- 1845, Benjamin Disraeli, Sybil
- The dinner was silent and sombre; happily it was also short.
- 2012, Peter Turnbull, Aftermath, Severn House Publishers Ltd (?ISBN)
- A sombre mood, very sombre in fact, thought Hennessey, as he stood against the wall observing the procedure for the police. He had not known a mood more sombre to have previously descended on the room.
- 1845, Benjamin Disraeli, Sybil
- Grave; extremely serious.
- a sombre situation
Alternative forms
- somber (US)
Synonyms
- melancholy
- dreary
- dire
- dismal
Translations
Noun
sombre (uncountable)
- (obsolete) Gloom; obscurity; duskiness.
Verb
sombre (third-person singular simple present sombres, present participle sombring, simple past and past participle sombred)
- To make sombre or dark; to make shady.
References
- sombre in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
Anagrams
- bromes, ombres, somber
French
Etymology
From Old French sombre, from a verb *sombrer (from a Vulgar Latin *subumbr?re), or from Latin sub + umbra. Cf. also Spanish and Portuguese sombra (“shadow”), likely with influence from sol (“sun”). See also Old French essombre, with a different prefix.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /s??b?/
Adjective
sombre (plural sombres)
- dark
- (derogatory) right, damn, bloody
Synonyms
- foncé
- obscur
Antonyms
- clair
Derived terms
- matière sombre
Descendants
- ? English: sombre
Verb
sombre
- first-person singular present indicative of sombrer
- third-person singular present indicative of sombrer
- first-person singular present subjunctive of sombrer
- third-person singular present subjunctive of sombrer
- second-person singular imperative of sombrer
Further reading
- “sombre” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).
Anagrams
- ombres
Norman
Etymology
From Old French sombre, from a verb *sombrer (from a Vulgar Latin *subumbr?re), or from Latin sub (“under”) + umbra (“shadow”).
Adjective
sombre m or f
- (Jersey) sombre, dark
Spanish
Verb
sombre
- First-person singular (yo) present subjunctive form of sombrar.
- Formal second-person singular (usted) present subjunctive form of sombrar.
- Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted?) present subjunctive form of sombrar.
- Formal second-person singular (usted) imperative form of sombrar.
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plaintive
English
Etymology
From Middle English pleintif, plentyff, from French plaintif (“aggrieved, lamenting”), from plainte (“lament, complaint”); see plaint. Doublet of plaintiff.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /?ple?nt?v/
Adjective
plaintive (comparative more plaintive, superlative most plaintive)
- Sounding sorrowful, mournful or melancholic.
Related terms
- plaint
- plaintiff
Translations
Further reading
- plaintive in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
- plaintive in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
French
Adjective
plaintive
- feminine singular of plaintif
plaintive From the web:
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