lugubrious
/ləˈɡ(j)u.bɹi.əs/adjective
lugubrious is spelled L-U-G-U-B-R-I-O-U-S: 10 letters and 4 syllables. It appears about once in every 10 million words in written English, the 92,628th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, lugubrious means “Gloomy, mournful or dismal, especially to an exaggerated degree” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in lugubrious?
| Letters | 10: L-U-G-U-B-R-I-O-U-S |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 10 million words; the 92,628th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is lugubrious?
Lugubrious appears about once in every 10 million words in written English, the 92,628th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce lugubrious?
- UK /luːˈɡ(j)uː.bɹi.əs/
- UK /lʊˈɡ(j)uː.bɹi.əs/
- US /ləˈɡ(j)u.bɹi.əs/
Lugubrious has 4 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-lugubrious.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with lugubrious?
One word on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as lugubrious from its last stressed vowel (/ubɹiəs/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of lugubrious
- more lugubrious comparative
- most lugubrious superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does lugubrious mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Gloomy, mournful or dismal, especially to an exaggerated degree.
His client’s lugubrious expression tipped off the detective that something lurked beneath her optimistic words.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Lugubrious in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense gloomy:
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does lugubrious come from?
Borrowed from Latin lūgubris (“mournful; gloomy”), with the suffix -ious.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).