Jump To:

• half mourning
  half mourning

  noun

  a mourning garb less somber than deep mourning, usually following a period of deep mourning.
• half-mourning
  half-mourning

  noun

  dark grey clothes worn by some during a period after full formal mourning

half mourning

American  

noun

1. a mourning garb less somber than deep mourning, usually following a period of deep mourning.

2. the period during which it is worn.

---

half-mourning British  

noun

1. dark grey clothes worn by some during a period after full formal mourning

---

Etymology

Origin of half mourning

First recorded in 1810–20

Example Sentences

“I know that sounds intense,” I said, half-laughing.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 5, 2026

It’s a comic premise — what, is this part of the “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter” extended universe? — except Larraín is only half-laughing.

From New York Times • Sep. 14, 2023

“Although I didn’t know it was satirical at first,” she says, half-laughing.

From The Guardian • Feb. 24, 2019

“When I talk to young people, sometimes they say they haven’t had miso in a while,” he said, half-laughing and half-shocked.

From Washington Post • Feb. 23, 2015

Nonsense, Jenny," he would have said, in his own half-laughing, good-natured way; "the back is aye made fit for the burden.

From Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland Volume 16 by Various