lugubrious

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The Word of the Day for April 14 is: 

lugubrious   \loo-GOO-bree-us\   adjective
    *1 : mournful; especially : exaggeratedly or affectedly mournful 
     2 : dismal 

Example sentence:
     "The dogs ... simultaneously lifting their noses, began to howl in most 
lugubrious fashion." (Bram Stoker, _Dracula_)

Did you know?
     "It is a consolation to the wretched to have companions in misery," wrote 
Publilius Syrus in the first century BC. Perhaps this explains why "lugubrious" 
is so woeful -- it's all alone. Sure, we can dress up "lugubrious" with 
suffixes to form "lugubriously" or "lugubriousness," but the word remains 
essentially an only child -- the sole surviving English offspring of its Latin 
ancestors. This wasn't always the case, though. "Lugubrious" once had a 
linguistic living relative in "luctual," an adjective meaning "sad" or 
"sorrowful." Like "lugubrious," "luctual" traced ultimately to the Latin verb 
"lugere," meaning "to mourn." "Luctual," however, faded into obsolescence long 
ago, leaving "lugubrious" to carry on the family's mournful mission all alone.

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence. 





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