Words / C2

STIJ-ee-uh-n/ˈstɪdʒiən/

Stygian means very dark, gloomy, or forbidding (literary; from the river Styx in myth): stygian gloom, stygian stairs. Dark (already in the dictionary) is everyday with little light; black (already in the dictionary) is the darkest colour, and gloomy (already in the dictionary) is dark or making you sad — the close twin. Doleful, elegiac, and plangent (already in the dictionary) are mournful of look, wistful for the past, and loud and mournfully resonant. This batch: refulgent is brightly shining — the opposite flavour; ataraxia is serene calm. Atmosphere is not a named first-aider.

Meaning

Very dark, gloomy, or forbidding (literary; from the river Styx).

Examples

• “Stygian stairs without a named first-aider are a hole, not atmosphere.”
• “Dark is with little light (already in A1). Black is the darkest colour (already in A1). Gloomy is dark or unhappy (already in A2). Doleful is mournful in look (already in C2). Elegiac is wistfully mournful (already in C2). Plangent is loud and mournfully resonant (already in C2). Refulgent is brightly shining (this batch) — the contrast. Ataraxia is serene calm (this batch). Atmosphere on the night can be exact. Atmosphere instead of a named post is a hole. Write the rota; then the gloom.”

Good to know

Pitch-dark; gloomy (literary). Everyday: dark / black / gloomy (already in this dictionary). Close: doleful / elegiac / plangent (already in C2). This batch: refulgent (the contrast); ataraxia. Atmosphere ≠ a first-aider.

Near in meaning

dark, gloomy, murky, tenebrous

New