Word · Frequency #9562
somber
昏暗的；暗淡的；阴沉的
somber
- 1.
lacking brightness or color; dull
缺乏亮度或色彩；暗淡的
- 2.
grave or even gloomy in character
严肃甚至阴郁的
缺乏亮度或色彩；暗淡的；严肃甚至阴郁的；昏暗的；阴天的；严峻的
In use
The sky was somber and gray all afternoon, so we stayed indoors.
He picked a somber brown coat because it would not show dirt easily.
The old house looked somber with its dark wooden walls and tiny windows.
children in somber brown clothes
a suit of somber black
a somber mood
somber + noun
常用于描述环境、颜色或情绪。
The room had a somber atmosphere.
房间里有一种阴沉的气氛。
be/look/feel + somber
描述人的表情或心情。
His face looked somber during the meeting.
会议期间他的脸色看起来很阴沉。
somber about/over sth
后接介词短语表示原因。
She felt somber over the loss of her job.
她对失去工作感到忧郁。
Common mistakes
He sombered after hearing the news.He looked somber after hearing the news.
错误地将'somber'用作动词，但'somber'是形容词，应用系动词+形容词结构。
He spoke somber about the situation.He spoke somberly about the situation.
错误地将'somber'直接用作副词修饰动词，应用副词形式'somberly'。
Connections
Collocations
- somber mood
- 阴郁的心情
- The team was in a somber mood after the loss.失利后，全队心情阴郁。
- somber colors
- 暗淡的色彩
- She chose somber colors for the painting.她为这幅画选用了暗淡的色彩。
- somber tone
- 严肃低沉的语气
- His voice took on a somber tone as he spoke.他说话时语气变得严肃低沉。
- somber atmosphere
- 阴沉的气氛
- A somber atmosphere filled the room.房间里弥漫着阴沉的气氛。
- somber expression
- 忧郁的表情
- Her somber expression showed how worried she was.她忧郁的表情显示出她有多担心。
- somber occasion
Learner notes
Memory Tip
联想 sober（清醒）和 somber 只差一个字母：清醒的人神色严肃，阴沉的人脸色更灰暗，两个词都带着‘沉重’的感觉。
Context & Register
语域：formal 常见场景：formal writing、literary prose、serious news reports somber 多用于书面语或正式场合，如文学作品和新闻报道，表示“暗淡的”或“阴郁的”。在日常口语中，这类意思通常用 dark、gloomy、serious 等更常见的词来表达。
Pronunciation & Spelling
None of the listed words rhymes exactly with somber (/ˈsɑmbɝ/) because their stressed vowel differs; number, lumber and chamber share the /mbɚ/ ending but not the /ɑ/ vowel. Bomber (/ˈbɑmɚ/) and climber (/ˈklaɪmɚ/) are spelling lookalikes with a silent b, and sober (/ˈsoʊbɚ/) loses the m, so they sound quite different.
Dictionary facts from ECDICT, WIKTIONARY.