Rain falls in Virginia as I write, and the clouds have stolen color from everything. This gray weather compliments my Wondrous Word for today. To learn about other descriptive words, visit Kathy, our meme hostess, at Bermuda Onion.
Here’s my word:
The lugubrious landscape outside my window depresses me this morning.
This is one of those words I learned for SATs but forgot. I heard it while listening to the last chapters of The Amulet of Samarkand. (Whew, I’m glad we’re done with that book. It dragged at the end, probably because our listening time in the van was disturbed by the conclusion of fall sports and the hectic holiday schedule. I don’t plan to read the next one in the series, but my ten-year old, who loves fantasy and adventure, burned through all the Bartemaeus books at our library.)
Back to the Wondrous Word:
lugubrious \lu-‘gu-brē-ǝs\ adjective from Latin lugubris, from lugere “to mourn”
- mournful, especially exaggeratedly mournful
- dismal
Word Nerd Workout
Think of a synonym for lugubrious, or, even better, a lugubrious character or setting from a book. (e.g., the dark heath in Wuthering Heights).
Thanks for playing along!
Julia
Your lugubrious landscape is stunning! Reminds me of the moors of England, very Emily Bronte…
I’m glad you had the phonetic spelling – that’s a tough one to pronounce. Let’s see…he’s not from a book, but we’ve been watching Friends a lot lately. Ross is much more lugubrious than I remember him being, and it’s annoying!
Ross does have an “Eeyore” air to him- good example. It’s funny how you see things differently as time passes…
Snow is covering our landscape right now, with frigid weather.Thanks! for sharing your word.
Eeyore from Winnie the Pooh stories is my vote for a lugubrious character. Kathy’s submission of Snape was a great one!
I like melancholy for a synonym – Eeyore definitely has a streak of melancholia in him. He’s a pretty dour little donkey. Don’t know why, but I always loved him. Perhaps I feel like he just needs a whole lot of hugs. 😀
Lisa, Eeyore is an awesome example of lugubrious, and melancholy the perfect synonym. You girls have lots of great ideas today.
Good one!
I think the landscape out your window is far from lugubrious! It is green and wonderful. I suppose in person it seems dreary. One of the synonyms in my online dictionary is cold. So it has been pretty darn lugubrious here in NE Wyoming lately. If I could post a picture here I would show you. Enjoy your week, Julia.
I found your FB cover and agree – if lugubrious means cold, your photo fits perfectly. How long are your winters out there, anyway? I’m guessing at least six months. Have a great week too.
We’ve had that kind of weather for at least a week now. I’m trying not to complain because it’s not snowing but I sure do miss the sunshine. I think gloomy could be a synonym for lugubrious and the first lugubrious character who came to my mind was Professor Snape.
Excellent synonym and great character idea. Thanks for playing! And here’s to getting sunshine soon… I hope!