This time, what was supposed to be a somber affair looked like a merry class reunion.

After the good humor and liveliness of last night, breakfast was a silent, almost somber, affair.

To some Americans, especially those in veterans' groups, the Fourth of July is a somber affair.

Yet for all that, it was not a somber or stately affair.

The gift exchange with relatives the next day was a somber affair, and things have not improved.

Dinner was a somber affair, the night passed slowly, and dawn brought rain.

But many commencement addresses were somber affairs, with warnings about censorship to an erosion of civil liberties.

Under the circumstances, the swearing-in ceremony in Ramallah was a somber affair.

Breakfast that morning was a somber affair.