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Sombre vs Austere - What's the difference?

sombre | austere | Related terms |

As adjectives the difference between sombre and austere

is that sombre is dark; gloomy while austere is grim or severe in manner or appearance.

As a noun sombre

is gloom; obscurity; duskiness.

As a verb sombre

is to make sombre or dark; to make shady.

sombre

English

Alternative forms

* (US ) somber

Adjective

(er)
  • Dark; gloomy.
  • Dull or dark in colour.
  • Melancholy; dismal.
  • * Beaconsfield
    • The dinner was silent and sombre ; happily it was also short.
  • Grave.
    • a sombre situation

    Synonyms

    * melancholy * dreary * dire * dismal

    Noun

    (-)
  • (obsolete) gloom; obscurity; duskiness

    • Verb

  • To make sombre or dark; to make shady.
    • (Webster 1913)

    Anagrams

    * ----

    austere

    English

    Adjective

    (en-adj)
  • Grim or severe in manner or appearance
    • The headmistress was an austere old woman.
  • Lacking trivial decoration; not extravagant or gaudy
    • The interior of the church was as austere as the parishioners were dour.

    Synonyms

    * (grim or severe) stern, strict, forbidding * (lacking trivial decoration) simple, plain, unadorned, unembellished

    Antonyms

    * (not lacking trivial decoration) overwrought, flamboyant, extravagant, gaudy, flashy

    Derived terms

    * austerity * austerely