Words / C2

s-uh-PULKR-uh-l/səˈpʌlkrəl/

Sepulchral means of a tomb, or gloomily deep, hollow, and quiet (literary): a sepulchral voice, sepulchral gloom. Gloomy is everyday; funereal is the close cousin. A sepulchre is a tomb. Do not skip the fire warden because the hall sounds sepulchral and grand.

Meaning

Of a tomb; gloomily quiet, deep, or hollow (literary).

Examples

• “A sepulchral hall still needs a named fire warden.”
• “Gloomy is everyday. Hollow is of sound. Funereal is of a funeral. Saturnine (this batch) is of a person’s temper, not of a vault. Atmosphere is design. Cover on the night is a name. The echo does not hold the key.”

Good to know

Tomb-like; hollowly gloomy (literary). Everyday: gloomy / tomb-like. Contrast: saturnine (of temper — this batch). Grandeur ≠ a warden.

Near in meaning

gloomy

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