different between sullen vs sombre

English

Etymology

From Middle English solein, from Anglo-Norman soleyn (“alone”), from Old French sole (“single, sole, alone”), from Latin s?lus (“by oneself alone”). The change in meaning from "single" to morose occurred in Middle English.

Pronunciation

• enPR: s?l??n, IPA^(key): /?s?l?n/
• Rhymes: -?l?n
• Hyphenation: sul?len

Adjective

sullen (comparative sullener, superlative sullenest)

1. Having a brooding ill temper; sulky.
   • 1709, Matthew Prior, Pleasure

     And sullen I forsook the imperfect feast.

   • 2007, Steven Wilson, "Normal", Porcupine Tree, Nil Recurring.

2. Gloomy; dismal; foreboding.

   a sullen atmosphere

   • 1593, William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, IV. v. 88:

     Our solemn hymns to sullen dirges change;
3. Sluggish; slow.
4. (obsolete) Lonely; solitary; desolate.
5. (obsolete) Mischievous; malignant; unpropitious.
6. (obsolete) Obstinate; intractable.
   • a. 1694, John Tillotson, Imprudence of Atheism

     Things are as sullen as we are.

Synonyms

(in a bad mood):

• sulky, morose

Antonyms

• cheerful
• content
• lighthearted
• pleased

Translations

Noun

sullen (plural sullens)

1. (obsolete) One who is solitary, or lives alone; a hermit.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Piers Plowman to this entry?)

2. (chiefly in the plural) Sullen feelings or manners; sulks; moroseness.
   • 1593, William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of King Richard the Second, II. i. 139:

     And let them die that age and sullens have;

   • 1748, Samuel Richardson, Clarissa, I.7:

     [M]y brother […] charged my desire of being excused coming down to sullens, because a certain person had been spoken against, upon whom, as he supposed, my fancy ran.

Anagrams

• unsell

Middle Dutch

Etymology

From Old Dutch sulan

Verb

sullen

1. (auxiliary) must, to have to
2. (auxiliary, negated) may, be allowed to
3. (auxiliary) will, shall, be going to (future tense)
4. (auxiliary, in the past tense) to be about to (inchoative)
5. (modal auxiliary) indicates a possible or hypothetical situation
6. (modal auxiliary) indicates information garnered from a third party that may or may not be reliable

Inflection

This verb needs an inflection-table template.

Alternative forms

• suelen
• s?len
• sellen
• s?len
• sollen

Descendants

• Dutch: zullen
  • Afrikaans: sal
• Limburgish: zölle, zólle

Further reading

• “sullen”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
• Verwijs, E.; Verdam, J. (1885–1929) , “sullen”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, ?ISBN

Northern Sami

Pronunciation

Verb

s?llen

1. first-person singular past indicative of suollit

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)

1. 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.

2. 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 ...

3. 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.

4. Grave; extremely serious.

   a sombre situation

Alternative forms

• somber (US)

Synonyms

• melancholy
• dreary
• dire
• dismal

Translations

Noun

sombre (uncountable)

1. (obsolete) Gloom; obscurity; duskiness.

Verb

sombre (third-person singular simple present sombres, present participle sombring, simple past and past participle sombred)

1. 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)

1. dark
2. (derogatory) right, damn, bloody

Synonyms

• foncé
• obscur

Antonyms

• clair

Derived terms

• matière sombre

Descendants

• ? English: sombre

Verb

sombre

1. first-person singular present indicative of sombrer
2. third-person singular present indicative of sombrer
3. first-person singular present subjunctive of sombrer
4. third-person singular present subjunctive of sombrer
5. 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

1. (Jersey) sombre, dark

Spanish

Verb

sombre

1. First-person singular (yo) present subjunctive form of sombrar.
2. Formal second-person singular (usted) present subjunctive form of sombrar.
3. Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted^?) present subjunctive form of sombrar.
4. Formal second-person singular (usted) imperative form of sombrar.