Make Your Point > Archived Issues > LUGUBRIOUS

Send Make Your Point issues straight to your inbox.

connect today's word to others: We got our word lugubrious from the Latin lugere, meaning "to mourn." When you're acting mournful--ridiculously mournful--you're being lugubrious. It's a bit extreme. Let's recall three other words that take emotions to extremes: 1. Something overly emotional in a weak, tearful way is mau____. 2. Something overly sentimental in a fake way is ba____ic. 3. Something overly sweet and sappy is sac_______. (To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.) make your point with... "LUGUBRIOUS" Something lugubrious is sad, gloomy, or mournful--in a fake way or an exaggerated way. Pronunciation: loo GOO bree us Part of speech: Adjective. (Adjectives are describing words, like "large" or "late." They can be used in two ways: 1. Right before a noun, as in "a lugubrious thing" or "a lugubrious person." 2. After a linking verb, as in "It was lugubrious" or "He was lugubrious.") Other forms: lugubriously, lugubriousness (or, less commonly, lugubriosity) How to use it: Talk about lugubrious people and their lugubrious manners; lugubrious voices and faces; lugubrious poems, books, and shows; lugubrious scenes; and lugubrious art and music. Or, say that something has a lugubrious tone, mood, appearance, or atmosphere. You can also say that things proceed at a lugubrious pace: "the film's lugubrious pace," "the lugubrious pace of social reform." Even actions, events, and situations can be lugubrious: a lugubrious trudge to the liquor store, their lugubrious meeting on how to replace their best salesperson, the lugubrious business of packing up a household that you don't want to leave. Can you have lugubrious objects? Sure, but then we're starting to stretch this word into personification. You might talk about lugubrious urns and tombstones, lugubrious architecture, lugubrious stone gargoyles. How about lugubrious wallpaper? :) examples: Asked why he should be hired, the interviewee slouched through a long, lugubrious silence before mumbling, "I'm a people person." His essay on America before the Civil Rights movement contrasts the joyful, rollicking church services for oppressed black citizens with the staid, lugubrious services for privileged whites. study it now: Look away from the screen to explain the definition in your own words. You’ll know you understand what "lugubrious" means when you can explain it without saying "exaggeratedly sorrowful" or "overly mournful." try it out: Fill in the blanks: "With its lugubrious (lyrics, melody, or both), (some specific song) calls to mind (a particular sad image or sad memory)." Example: "With its lugubrious melody, 'The Last Song' calls to mind the image of a stuffy darkened hospital room." before you review: Spend at least 20 seconds occupying your mind with the game below. Then try the review questions. Don’t go straight to the review now—let your working memory empty out first. This month, we're playing "Coiners & Coinages." Use your knowledge of science, history, literature, and vocabulary as you match newly coined words to the people who coined them, and vice versa. Let's do this! From our previous issue: Maybe your workout routine includes BURPEES, those exhausting squatting-kicking-standing exercises. (I'm tired just thinking about them.) Who coined the word BURPEE: was it Jillian Michaels, Joseph Pilates, or Dr. Royal H. Burpee? Answer: I can't make this up: it was the one and only Dr. Royal H. (Huddleston) Burpee (1897-1987), a physiologist. His burpees were used by the United States Armed Services as a quick test of physical fitness. And here I thought they were called burpees because they made you burp or hiccup a bit. (Who wants to come up with a new version of the exercise and call it the Royal Burpee?) Try this last one today: A neologism is a new word, a new phrase, or an old word with a new meaning. Who coined this word for a newly coined word? In other words, what wordily-named wordsmith coined the word NEOLOGISM: was it Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde, Jean Nicolas Jouin de Sauseuil, or Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor? review today's word: 1. The opposite of LUGUBRIOUS is A. ALOOF. B. DEVOTED. C. RAPTUROUS. 2. The tour guide's voice grew lugubrious as he noted, _____ A. "Y'all better cover your kids' ears for this one." B. "And here is where Jefferson would sneak in for late-night snacks." C. "And here is where these great men gave their lives for the glory of our nation." Answers are below. a final word: Make Your Point is crafted with love and brought to you each weekday morning by Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words. From Liesl's blog:    36 ways to study words.    Why we forget words, & how to remember them.    How to use sophisticated words without being awkward. To be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. Disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes. Answers to review questions: 1. C 2. C