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Synonyms

subfusc

American  
[suhb-fuhsk] / sʌbˈfʌsk /

adjective

  1. subfuscous; dusky.

  2. dark and dull; dingy; drab.

    a subfusc mining town.


subfusc British  
/ ˈsʌbfʌsk /

adjective

  1. devoid of brightness or appeal; drab, dull, or dark

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

noun

  1. (at Oxford University) formal academic dress

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of subfusc

1755–65; < Latin subfuscus subfuscous

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.

See Examples For:

The courtiers tramping across the green eye them: Suffolk with his big beard, his flashing eye, his big chest, and Master Secretary subfusc, low-slung, square.

From The Guardian Feb. 22, 2020

As I raised my phone to snap a picture of the amber stone columns radiant in the evening light, a cyclist in subfusc screeched and swerved to avoid me, yelling “Tourist!”

From The Wall Street Journal Sep. 13, 2016

It was a view that mixed the bucolic, the nostalgic, the subfusc urban world, and an occasional hint of exoticism.

From The Guardian Jul. 12, 2013

The atmosphere is deliciously muted and studious, with the rhymes "desk"/ "dusk" conjuring the unspoken word, "subfusc".

From The Guardian Mar. 7, 2011

I was in knickerbockers and khaki shirt; Mifflin in greasy gray flannels and subfusc Norfolk.

From Shandygaff by Morley, Christopher

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