Saturnine: meaning, pronunciation and examples
Saturnine adjective. Gloomy, brooding and serious in manner or looks.
How to say it
SAT-uh-nyne/ˈsætənaɪn/
3 syllables, stressed on the first (SAT).
Saturnine in a sentence
The saturnine detective rarely smiled and never explained.
His saturnine face broke, quite unexpectedly, into a grin.
Similar and opposite
Similar:
- gloomy
- brooding
- sombre
- dour
Opposite:
- cheerful
- sunny
Where saturnine comes from
From Saturn, the planet astrologers believed made people slow and gloomy.
Test yourself
Which word fills the gap?
His _____ face broke, quite unexpectedly, into a grin.
- bumptious
- saturnine
- credulous
Show the answer
saturnine: His saturnine face broke, quite unexpectedly, into a grin.