brown study
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
Absence of mind; apparent thought, but real vacuity. The corresponding French expression explains it — sombre reverie. Sombre and brun both mean sad, melancholy, gloomy, dull.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “brown study” mean?
Absence of mind; apparent thought, but real vacuity. The corresponding French expression explains it — sombre reverie. Sombre and brun both mean sad, melancholy, gloomy, dull.
Is “brown study” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.