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Glite Dictionary
sepulchral

sepulchral

1 9.9
Gloomy and quiet like a tomb or a funeral
  • adjective
  • /səˈpəlkrəl/
  • Literature
translation icon : sepulcral
  • Cliffs bounced Father Jerome's "Gloria!" back at him in a sepulchral echo.

After all, is it not wondrous that we're allowed to be both witnesses and victims of the sepulchral pump of wasting tissue?

Examples

  • "When the five moons rise, it's not wise to believe anything," said Superintendent Flint in a sepulchral voice.

    Fiction book (1992)

  • The house, once resonating with the buoyant mayhem of children, is now sepulchral with silence.

    Fiction book (1997)

  • "Next flight, five minutes," a sepulchral voice announced.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • "Time," Charles said with sepulchral seriousness.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • "And haunted," said Andy in sepulchral tones.

    Fiction book (1992)

  • We are deep in the narrow stacks of a sepulchral archive.

    Fiction book (1998)

  • At first glance, the cell is empty, silent, sepulchral.

    Academic text (1990)

  • That's life, he commented in a sepulchral voice, gazing deep into the cat's green eyes.

    Fiction book (1998)

  • The trees and bushes around them stood inky and sepulchral, spilling long shadows across them.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • The old mansion felt sepulchral, filled with shadows and an eerie silence.

Synonyms

funereal
vssepulchral
3 8.1

Having a sad, serious mood like a ceremony for someone who has died

also refers to tombs or burial places as well as gloomy tone
funerary
vssepulchral
1 8.1

About ceremonies for burying a dead person

is used more for gloomy or tomb associations than ritual intent
charnel
vssepulchral
  • NSFW
1 9.9

Showing death or decay, like a place where dead bodies are kept

is less graphic and more about gloomy tomb or funeral atmosphere
tomblike
vssepulchral
1 8.3

Dark, quiet, and gloomy like a tomb

focuses more on funeral association and mournful character than plain tomb likeness
mortuary
vssepulchral
7.5

Having a sad, quiet feeling like at a funeral

is more about gloomy, tomb or funeral quality than general death relation
dirgy
vssepulchral
9.5

Slow and sad in a way that reminds you of a funeral

is broader, covering gloom tied to tombs or burial, not only sound

How Gloomy

sepulchral
  • Literature
1 9.9
funereal
3 8.1
gloomy
17 2.1
somber
  • US
52 4.6

Surface Forms

sepulchral positive

Morphology

sepulchral = sepulchre (semi-transparent) = sepulchre + al

The adjective is transparently formed from 'sepulchre' plus '-al', but the gloomy, death-like figurative sense is a conventional extension rather than a fully literal compositional meaning.

Etymology

The word sepulchral comes from the Latin sepulcrum, which means 'tomb', and is related to the English word sepulchre. So something sepulchral is 'like a tomb' — very quiet, dark, or full of sadness.