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Glite Dictionary
sad trombone

sad trombone

8.0
A short trombone sound used to show disappointment, failure or embarrassment
  • noun
  • /sæd trɒmˈboʊn/
  • Informal
translation icon : trombón triste
  • The comedian paused for effect after telling a bad joke, and the crowd reacted with a sad trombone sound.

Examples

  • You can almost hear the sad trombone noise.

    Blog text (25)

  • Cue sad trombone.

    Blog text (23)

  • After she missed the deadline for the contest, everyone heard the sad trombone sound in response to her disappointment.

  • When he realized he had forgotten his lines, the director played a sad trombone to show the audience his embarrassment.

Antonyms

great fanfare
3 4.3

A big public show and excitement around an event

Surface Forms

sad trombone singular
sad trombones plural

Morphology

sad + trombone

The basic idea—a mournful or disappointed trombone sound—is directly inferable from combining 'sad' with 'trombone', so a learner can imagine a plaintive instrumental noise. However, the conventionalized, comedic use of that specific descending slide as a stock signal for failure or embarrassment is pragmatic and culturally conventionalized, so full interpretation often requires prior exposure.

Etymology

Sad trombone comes from a short, sliding sound played on a trombone that goes 'wah-wah' and sounds sad. Old comedy acts and game shows used that sound after a mistake, so today the phrase marks 'disappointment', 'failure', or 'embarrassment'.