saturnine

[sat-er-nahyn]

adjective

1. sluggish in temperament; gloomy; taciturn.

2. suffering from lead poisoning, as a person.

3. due to absorption of lead, as bodily disorders.

saturnine

/ ˌsætəˈnɪnɪtɪ, ˈsætəˌnaɪn /

adjective

1. having a gloomy temperament; taciturn

2. archaic

   1. of or relating to lead

   2. having or symptomatic of lead poisoning

Other Word Forms

• saturninity noun
• saturninely adverb
• saturnineness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of saturnine¹

1400–50; late Middle English < Medieval Latin sāturnīnus ( Saturn, -ine ¹ )

Word History and Origins

Origin of saturnine¹

C15: from French saturnin, from Medieval Latin sāturnīnus (unattested), from Latin Sāturnus Saturn, with reference to the gloomy influence attributed to the planet Saturn

Example Sentences

Slatkin noted that the recording, released in 1955, didn’t sell well, probably thanks to the album cover’s saturnine painting of a composer that few would recognize.

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Cool-kid chefs turning local bounty into Michelin-worthy dishes, an artisan whisky boom and a clutch of stylish hotels have helped Scotland shrug off its saturnine image and rebrand as a misty, moody mecca.

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Waters emerged as its new, more saturnine leader.

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But even in that calm gloom, my eyes slowly acclimated to the 14 grandly saturnine paintings, made by Mark Rothko in the late 1960s.

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Whatever might come, this would not be a tenure of earth tones and lethargy and saturnine expressions.

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