saturnine

saturnine

From Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day by Merriam-Webster

June 11, 2026 · 2 min

About this episode

This episode explores the word 'saturnine', its meanings, and its literary origins.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for June 11, 2026 is: saturnine • \SAT-er-nyne\  • adjective Saturnine is a literary word that typically describes people who are glum and grumpy, or things that suggest or express gloom. It can also mean “slow to act or change.” // A walk in the sunshine can improve your mood significantly, raising the spirits of even the most saturnine among us. See the entry > Examples: “If he was once more cautious in interviews, coming across as a little saturnine , he’s looser now, illuminated by flashes of wry humour.” — Patrick Smith, The Independent (United Kingdom), 1 Feb. 2026 Did you know? Saturnine is far—even astronomically far—from the cheeriest of words. It has a long history of describing the glum and grouchy among us, and comes ultimately from Sāturnus , name of the Roman god of agriculture , who was often depicted as a bent old man with a stern, sluggish, and sullen nature. Saturn , the ringed gas giant that is one of five planets visible to the naked eye, is of course the namesake of Sāturnus, and Saturn does indeed seem to dawdle; it requires over 29 of our Earth years to orbit the sun. The ancient Romans (like some…

People in this episode

Host: Merriam-Webster

Topics covered

  • language
  • adjectives
  • literary terms
  • mood
  • etymology

Keywords

  • saturnine
  • glum
  • gloom
  • adjective
  • etymology
  • literary
  • mood
  • Saturn

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Eeyore

Places: United Kingdom, Earth, Roman

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