Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

brown study

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.82 in modern English

Syllables: brown s-tudy
IPA

19

Scrabble Score

10

Letters

2

Syllables

10

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A melancholy mood accompanied by deep thought; a moody daydream.

Dated

Example Sentences

"Phædra. [...] Why Soſia! What, in a brown Study? / Soſia. A little cogitabund, or ſo; concerning this diſmal Revolution in our Family!"
"So gathering up the shavings with another grin, and throwing them into the great stove in the middle of the room, he went about his business, and left me in a brown study."
"Finding that Holmes was too absorbed for conversation, I had tossed aside the barren paper, and leaning back in my chair, I fell into a brown study. Suddenly my companion's voice broke in upon my thoughts."
"After that he kept such a silence, falling as it seemed to me into a brown study, that he went away without so much as bidding me farewell, or being conscious, as far as I could tell, of my presence."
"Once or twice she spoke harshly to Louis; she fell at other times into a brown study; and when she thought that I was not watching her, her face wore a look of deep anxiety."
"Major Valentine came in—to find me in a brown study."

Etymology

From obsolete brown (“gloomy”) and study.

Usage

Dated

Inflected Forms

brown studies (plural)

Questions

What does brown study mean?: A melancholy mood accompanied by deep thought; a moody daydream.
Where does brown study come from?: From obsolete brown (“gloomy”) and study.

How to pronounce brown study

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “brown study”.
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