sombrous, a.
(ˈsɒmbrəs)
[f. F. sombre sombre a. + -ous. Cf. obs. F. sombreux, Sp. and Pg. sombroso.]
Sombre; of a sombre character or aspect.
1. Of inanimate natural objects and their attributes. Cf. sombre a. 1.
| c 1730 Burt Lett. N. Scotl. (1822) I. 286 Their..horrid gloom, made yet more sombrous by the shades..they communicate one to another. 1787–9 Wordsw. Evening Walk 156 Where..the sombrous pine And yew-tree o'er the silver rocks recline. 1803 Forest of Hohenelbe I. 50 The long sombrous avenue that led to the front of the Castle. 1833 M. Scott Tom Cringle xiv, The fast falling shades of evening were deepened by the sombrous shadow of the immense tree overhead. 1889 P. H. Emerson Eng. Idyls 47 Ghostly loomed the baleful wreck and sombrous beacons of the channel. |
| absol. 1862 D. G. F. Macdonald Brit. Columbia 332 The whole territory..is endowed with savage beauty.., and extremely interesting to the lover of the sombrous. |
2. a. Of persons, etc.
Cf. sombre a. 2.
| 1792 Childr. Thespis 49 When once in a moon Sombrous John condescends..to glad all his friends. 1799 Mrs. J. West Tale of Times II. 36 Smothered discontent often made him meet..inquiries..with the sombrous brow of sorrow. 1802 ― Infidel Father I. 136 Though the sombrous air of melancholy never after left his face. 1834 Campbell Mrs. Siddons II. viii. 200 Kemble, [acting] on this occasion, was uncommonly sombrous. |
b. Of thoughts, feelings, etc.
Cf. sombre a. 2 b.
| 1751 Warburton Pope's Wks. III. 190 A poor despicable superstition, a low sombrous passion. 1771–2 Ess. fr. Batchelor (1773) I. 239 His dull sombrous imagination rendered him incapable of varying his ideas on any subject. 1817 J. Evans Excurs. Windsor, etc. 373 Under these sombrous feelings, even at this early period of life [etc.]. 1834 Campbell Mrs. Siddons II. iii. 78 A serious temper, somewhat inclined to be sombrous. |
3. Of abstract ideas, conditions, etc.
| 1750 Warburton Doct. Grace i. Wks. 1811 VIII. 293 A sparkling luxuriancy of thought, and a sombrous rankness of expression. 1778 Warton Hist. Eng. Poetry III. xxvii. 150 A certain uniform strain of sombrous gravity. 1795 Southey To Lycon, The venom'd juice will..Lull reason's powers to sombrous sleep. 1820 Ann. Reg. II. 724 The future for Spain appears again under a sombrous and disturbed aspect. |
4. Of colours or colouring. Also
transf. Cf. sombre a. 4.
| 1792 S. Rogers Pleasures of Mem. ii. 167 Time's sombrous touches soon correct the piece. 1797 T. Park Sonn. 95 Let him in sombrous colours paint her lot. 1802 Mrs. J. West Infidel Father I. p. iii, The episodical characters have a use besides relieving the sombrous hue of the principal personages. |
b. = sombre a. 4 b.
| 1799 Mrs. J. West Tale of Times I. 212 The messenger..found the castle attired in the most sombrous weeds of woe. |
5. Comb., as
sombrous-looking adj.| 1802 Mrs. J. West Infidel Father II. 302 The Hymeneal Vulcan sometimes sees as sombrous looking suppliants approach his altar. |
Hence
ˈsombrously adv.;
ˈsombrousness.
| 1796 Mod. Gulliver's Trav. 129 He looked very sombrously. 1847 Webster, Sombrously, gloomily. Sombrousness, state of being sombrous. |