Solemn — Meaning, Definition & Synonyms

Solemn (adjective) — Senses, Synonyms & Antonyms

1. having or showing a formal and serious or reserved manner

   "the director of the funeral home has a fittingly solemn demeanor"

   similar: august, dignified, distingué, distinguished, imposing, portly, staid, stately
   related: decorous, proper, seemly, grave, grim, po-faced (British), sober, somber, aristocratic, elegant, elevated, handsome, lordly, magisterial, majestic, noble
   opposite: flighty, frivolous, giddy, goofy, silly, undignified
   near: coarse, crass, crude, improper, indecent, uncouth, unseemly, vulgar

2. not joking or playful in mood or manner

   "solemn as a judge"

   similar: earnest, grave, humorless, no-nonsense, po-faced (British), sedate, serious, severe, sober, sobersided, staid, uncomic, unsmiling, weighty
   related: harsh, stern, strict, businesslike, professional, dignified, distinguished, elevated, serious-minded, gloomy, grim
   opposite: facetious, flip, flippant, humorous, jesting, jocular, joking, kittenish, ludic, playful
   near: antic, comic, comical, droll, farcical, funny, hilarious, hysterical, laughable, light, light-headed, ludicrous, ridiculous, riotous, risible, screaming, sidesplitting, uproarious, featherbrained, flighty, frivolous, goofy, harebrained, lighthearted, puerile, scatterbrained, absurd, asinine, balmy, brainless, cockeyed, crazy, cuckoo, daffy, daft, dotty, fatuous, foolish, half-witted, insane, jerky, kooky, loony, mad, nonsensical, nutty, preposterous, sappy, screwball, senseless, silly, unwise, wacky, weak-minded, witless, zany

3. causing or marked by an atmosphere lacking in cheer

   "the Capitol's rotunda was draped in solemn decorations of a state funeral"

   similar: black, bleak, cheerless, chill, Cimmerian, cloudy, cold, comfortless, dark, darkening, depressing, depressive, desolate, dire, disconsolate, dismal, drear, dreary, dreich (chiefly Scottish), elegiac, forlorn, funereal, gloomy, glum, godforsaken, gray, lonely, lonesome, lugubrious, miserable, morbid, morose, murky, plutonian, saturnine, sepulchral, somber, sullen, sunless, tenebrific, tenebrous, wretched
   related: blue, dejected, depressed, despondent, down, droopy, hangdog, inconsolable, low, melancholic, melancholy, mirthless, sad, unhappy, woebegone, woeful, dim, discomfiting, discouraging, disheartening, dismaying, dispiriting, distressful, distressing, upsetting, desperate, hopeless, pessimistic, lamentable, mournful, plaintive, sorrowful, colorless, drab, dull, dour, grim, lowering, lowery, menacing, negative, oppressive, threatening
   opposite: bright, cheerful, cheering, cheery, comforting, cordial, festive, friendly, gay, heartwarming, sunshiny
   near: blithe, blithesome, buoyant, gay, jocund, jolly, joyful, joyous, merry, mirthful, encouraging, hopeful, optimistic, lighthearted, lightsome