saturnine
adjective
Did you know?
Eeyore is saturnine. The gloomy, cynical character of A. A. Milne's gray donkey typifies the personality type the ancient Romans ascribed to individuals born when the planet Saturn was rising in the heavens. Both the name of the planet and the adjective derive from the name of the Roman god of agriculture, who was often depicted as a bent old man with a stern, sluggish, and sullen nature. The Latin name for Saturn was Saturnus, which is assumed to have yielded the word Saturninus (meaning "of Saturn") in Medieval Latin; that form was adapted to create English saturnine in the 15th century.
Synonyms
- black
- bleak
- cheerless
- chill
- Cimmerian
- cloudy
- cold
- comfortless
- dark
- darkening
- depressing
- depressive
- desolate
- dire
- disconsolate
- dismal
- drear
- dreary
- dreich [chiefly Scottish]
- elegiac
- elegiacal
- forlorn
- funereal
- gloomy
- glum
- godforsaken
- gray
- grey
- lonely
- lonesome
- lugubrious
- miserable
- morbid
- morose
- murky
- plutonian
- sepulchral
- solemn
- somber
- sombre
- sullen
- sunless
- tenebrific
- tenebrous
- wretched
Example Sentences
Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic, 27 Jan. 2022 Word History
15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 2b
Medical Definition
saturnine
adjective
saturnine
adjective
Synonyms & Similar Words
- depressive
- somber
- bleak
- darkening
- dark
- depressing
- lonely
- morbid
- desolate
- solemn
- morose
- murky
- sullen
- lonesome
- gray
- lugubrious
- cold
- blue
- black
- glum
- tenebrous
- cheerless
- sepulchral
- melancholy
- gloomy
- miserable
- wretched
- depressed
- disconsolate
- elegiac
- funereal
- chill
- forlorn
- grey
- oppressive
- sombre
- cloudy
- drear
- dire
- dreary
- dismal
- plutonian
- hangdog
- sad
- comfortless
- godforsaken
- sunless
- melancholic
- dreich
- menacing
- woebegone
- mournful
- mirthless
- grim
- despondent
- dim
- unhappy
- dejected
- desperate
- Cimmerian
- elegiacal
- dull
- hopeless
- negative
- pessimistic
- dour
- tenebrific
- discomfiting
- droopy
- low
- distressful
- woeful
- inconsolable
- sorrowful
- dispiriting
- dismaying
- discouraging
- upsetting
- plaintive
- down
- distressing
- lamentable
- colorless
- drab
- louring
- disheartening
- threatening
- lowering
- lowery
- loury
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- cheerful
- friendly
- bright
- cordial
- cheery
- jolly
- buoyant
- sunshiny
- mirthful
- comforting
- gay
- festive
- joyous
- merry
- joyful
- blithe
- optimistic
- gay
- blithesome
- hopeful
- jocund
- encouraging
- cheering
- heartwarming
- lighthearted
- lightsome
Synonym Chooser
Some common synonyms of saturnine are crabbed, gloomy, glum, morose, sulky, sullen, and surly. While all these words mean "showing a forbidding or disagreeable mood," saturnine describes a heavy forbidding aspect or suggests a bitter disposition.
The synonyms crabbed and saturnine are sometimes interchangeable, but crabbed applies to a forbidding morose harshness of manner.
The words gloomy and saturnine are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, gloomy implies a depression in mood making for seeming sullenness or glumness.
While the synonyms glum and saturnine are close in meaning, glum suggests a silent dispiritedness.
Morose adds to glum an element of bitterness or misanthropy.
In some situations, the words sulky and saturnine are roughly equivalent. However, sulky suggests childish resentment expressed in peevish sullenness.
Although the words sullen and saturnine have much in common, sullen implies a silent ill humor and a refusal to be sociable.
The words surly and saturnine can be used in similar contexts, but surly implies gruffness and sullenness of speech or manner.