saturnine

Meaning

1. (comparable) Of a person: having a tendency to be cold and gloomy
2. (comparable) Of a setting: depressing, dull, gloomy.
3. (archaic, comparable) Of, pertaining to, or containing lead (which was symbolically associated with the planet Saturn by alchemists).
4. (not-comparable) Caused or affected by lead poisoning (saturnism).
5. (not-comparable, obsolete) Pertaining to the astrological influence of the planet Saturn; having the characteristics of a person under such influence (see sense 1).

Opposite of

cheerful, jovial, dejected, depressed, discontented, dissatisfied, gloomy, miserable, sad, unhappy, bright, cheery, pleasant

Synonyms

dark

sullen

dour

glum

morose

moody

sour

glowering

leaden-coloured

sulky

darkling

demure

dim

disconsolate

dismal

earnest

gloomy

grave

🪦

grim

heavy

hefty

important

irascible

joyless

labored

laboured

leaden

logy

lumpish

massive

matronal

matronly

murky

obscure

angry

😠

pissed

ponderous

pregnant

sable

sedate

serious

sober

solemn

somber

sombre

staid

stodgy

sunless

surly

waterlogged

Translations

fosco

sombre

kasvetli

somber

saturnino

sıkıcı

morose

zwaarmoedig

düster

triste

☹️

saturnino

σαρδόνιος

σκυθρωπός

retret

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈsætənaɪn/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: saturnine

Cognate with French: saturnin

Cognate with Italian: saturnino

Cognate with Portuguese: saturnino

Cognate with Spanish: saturnino

In summary

From Middle English saturnine, satournine, satournyne, saturnin, saturnyn, saturnyne (“pertaining to or under the influence of the planet Saturn; line on the palm of the hand associated with Saturn”), from Old French saturnine, saturnin (modern French saturnin (“of, pertaining to, resembling or containing lead, plumbic”)), or directly from its etymon Medieval Latin Sāturnīnus, from Sāturnus (“the Roman god Saturn; the planet Saturn”) + -īnus (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’); analysable as Saturn + -ine. The English word is cognate with Italian saturnino (“saturnine”), Portuguese saturnino (“melancholy, saturnine; pertaining to the planet Saturn”), Spanish saturnino (“melancholy, saturnine; pertaining to the planet Saturn”).
Sense 1 (“having a tendency to be cold, bitter, gloomy, etc.”) refers to the fact that individuals born under the astrological influence of the planet Saturn were believed to have that disposition.