somber
SOM-beradjMeaning dark and gloomy; serious
Memory hook SOM-BER: SUN-BARRED, gray and grave. Clouds bar the sun, the sky turns gray, and the picnic goes quiet and serious. With the sun barred, the mood is somber.
The somber gray sky matched our mood on the last day of vacation.
In context The usually noisy classroom was somber that morning; the students spoke in low voices after hearing that their favorite teacher was moving away.
Similar gloomy, dark, grave, serious
Opposite cheerful, bright, lighthearted
From French sombre, “dark.”