lugubrious
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of lugubrious
First recorded in 1595–1605; from Latin lūgubri(s) “mournful” (akin to lūgēre “to mourn”) + -ous
Explanation
Funerals are lugubrious. So are rainy days and Mondays. Anything that makes you sad, gloomy, or mournful can be called lugubrious. Lugubrious comes from the Latin verb lūgēre, "to mourn." You can also listen to the sound of the word: lugubrious sounds slow, heavy, and sad. Sometimes, just the "feel" of a word is enough to clue you in to its meaning, and lugubrious is one of those words. I was feeling great when I got to the concert, but the lugubrious music left me in a terrible mood.
Vocabulary lists containing lugubrious
100 Words Every High School Graduate Should Know
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In the Mood? 100 Words to Describe Emotions
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This Week in Words: September 4 - 8, 2017
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
At Tudum, Ortega appeared on stage during Lady Gaga’s performance as part of a lugubrious ensemble.
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 30, 2025
I never heard Patti LuPone perform as the original Norma Desmond in “Sunset Boulevard,” Andrew Lloyd Webber’s lugubrious noir-sical, based on Billy Wilder’s storied 1950 film.
From Washington Post • Feb. 3, 2023
Gwenn Bauer, the head Les Vitrines de Strasbourg, an organization representing the city’s retail businesses, said he did not want “a lugubrious Christmas.”
From New York Times • Dec. 22, 2022
At a lugubrious black-tie dinner preceding the event, I sat next to a former MP who asked me two questions I had never been asked before in succession.
From Salon • Sep. 13, 2022
I hardly know whether I had slept or not after this musing; at any rate, I started wide awake on hearing a vague murmur, peculiar and lugubrious, which sounded, I thought, just above me.
From "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
