somber.

1. Dark or subdued in visual appearance.

2. Solemn or quietly sorrowful in mood or manner.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• somber colors
• somber interior

On the page

Somber colors absorbed the room's little light.

Usage notes

Primary category: literary / elevated general. Forms: Comparative more somber; superlative most somber when comparison is meaningful. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Writing functions: character, description. Commonness: moderately common.