What's the difference between solemn and vow?

Solemn


Definition:

  • (a.) Marked with religious rites and pomps; enjoined by, or connected with, religion; sacred.
  • (a.) Pertaining to a festival; festive; festal.
  • (a.) Stately; ceremonious; grand.
  • (a.) Fitted to awaken or express serious reflections; marked by seriousness; serious; grave; devout; as, a solemn promise; solemn earnestness.
  • (a.) Real; earnest; downright.
  • (a.) Affectedly grave or serious; as, to put on a solemn face.
  • (a.) Made in form; ceremonious; as, solemn war; conforming with all legal requirements; as, probate in solemn form.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) wearefriendlyfires.com Ceremoniously slow and with a mood of solemn self-satisfaction and reflective pride, the most I can say about this is every note of it is archetypal national anthem fodder.
  • (2) Facebook Twitter Pinterest China dismisses Trump call with Taiwan as ‘small trick’ However, Beijing’s public response has so far been measured, with the foreign ministry lodging a “solemn representation” with Washington and the foreign minister, Wang Yi, downplaying the development as “a petty move” by Taiwan.
  • (3) Holocaust survivors and government officials have gathered at the memorial site of the former concentration camp Bergen-Belsen in northern Germany , in a solemn ceremony to commemorate the liberation of the camp 70 years ago.
  • (4) In Kentucky , county clerks issue marriage licenses, and someone else must “solemnize” the marriage.
  • (5) Referring to the 70th anniversary of Japan’s defeat in what Beijing calls “the Chinese people’s war of resistance against Japanese aggression”, Hua said: “We solemnly urge the Japanese side to draw hard lessons from history.” Satellite images Chinese-built runway artificial island finished Read more China is planning a large-scale military parade to mark the end of the second world war in the Pacific.
  • (6) Reality, fantasy and war Call of Duty has never been a series to offer solemn commentary on the nature of war.
  • (7) Still, I like to believe that these small-scale ventures, too, make some contribution to a conversation without limits or proscriptions; the sine qua non of the sort of society that knows to keep the solemn and the pious at bay.
  • (8) He brings us his mackerel, and his marigolds, as a child just able to walk solemnly brings objects … a birdcage, or a colander … and deposits them as an offering before the attentive adult."
  • (9) Holding a Qur’an and looking solemn, Barrow was sworn in at the Gambian embassy in Dakar, where he has spent the past few days, and delivered his inaugural speech as president.
  • (10) It solemnly proclaimed Ireland's independence, appointed ambassadors to the Peace Conference, where they have not yet been bidden, passed an address to the free nations of the world, and made some pretence of framing orders for its domestic procedure.
  • (11) In short, these solemn written principles of engagement had not been agreed, written, or signed by anyone at the point Crosby was engaged by the Conservative party.
  • (12) 'No,' he said with his usual solemn deliberation, 'it was the downfall of a great people and a great civilisation.'
  • (13) He also produced this effect in some of his sculptures, for example Untitled (Funerary Box for a Lime Green Python) (1954), where a pair of solemn-looking palm leaves gives the work a consciously ritualistic tone.
  • (14) Right up until Sunday's first-round vote, the frenetic Sarkozy, known as the "president of bling" was apologising for what he called his lack of solemnity at the start of his presidency.
  • (15) Pistorius had solemnly entered the court wearing a grey suit and blue tie.
  • (16) Nato’s security guarantee is treaty commitment and all allies have made ... a solemn commitment to defend each other.
  • (17) Rakoff nodded in solemn agreement, although she had no idea who this Jerry person was.
  • (18) More arrived every minute, until, when an ambulance left carrying the bodies of Liu and Ramos, they formed a vast and silent honour guard, saluting solemnly in the flashing lights.
  • (19) In return, we give them a solemn pledge: that we shall keep their role secret.
  • (20) But the apology was delivered with enough solemnity to win some credit.

Vow


Definition:

  • (n.) A solemn promise made to God, or to some deity; an act by which one consecrates or devotes himself, absolutely or conditionally, wholly or in part, for a longer or shorter time, to some act, service, or condition; a devotion of one's possessions; as, a baptismal vow; a vow of poverty.
  • (n.) Specifically, a promise of fidelity; a pledge of love or affection; as, the marriage vow.
  • (n.) To give, consecrate, or dedicate to God, or to some deity, by a solemn promise; to devote; to promise solemnly.
  • (n.) To assert solemnly; to asseverate.
  • (v. i.) To make a vow, or solemn promise.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) The strike, which Central Command said destroyed the Isis fighting position, follows Barack Obama's vow in his televised speech on Wednesday to go on the offensive against Isis more broadly in Iraq and, soon, Syria.
  • (2) But Mr Bolloré, with a 29% stake in Aegis, vowed to keep calling shareholder meetings until he gets his way.
  • (3) But Clegg also says he is not going to be cowed into taking Cameron's vow of silence about Farage's assertion that he finds Britain unrecognisable and is uncomfortable at the lack of English spoken on commuter trains out of Charing Cross.
  • (4) Cameron also believes the planned peace talks can lure Assad's acolytes to break with their leader by vowing that if he goes, the existing military and security services will be preserved, saying the aim was "to learn the lessons of Iraq".
  • (5) "We have vowed to never forget and we never will," he said.
  • (6) The Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu , has vowed the militant Islamist group Hamas, blamed by Israel for the kidnapping, will "pay a heavy price".
  • (7) China to allow pension fund to invest in stock market for first time Read more China’s state-run media has repeatedly vowed that the country’s leaders will not allow such huge losses to continue.
  • (8) The Communication Workers Union (CWU), which represents postal workers, has vowed to fight the sale, which it says will lead to a "worse deal for customers, staff and thousands of small businesses dependent on the Royal Mail".
  • (9) Von Trier, who took a " vow of silence " after being banned from the Cannes film festival in 2011 after joking about Nazism during a press conference for Melancholia, arrived at Nymphomaniac's photocall wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with the phrase "Persona Non Grata"; true to his word, he failed to attend the subsequent press conference where his actors and producer talked about the film.
  • (10) Iran has vowed to retaliate against the ISA extension, passed unanimously on Thursday, saying it violated last year’s agreement with six major powers to curb its nuclear programme in return for lifting of international financial sanctions.
  • (11) Far from being depressed, the audience turned into a heaving mass of furious geeks, who roared their anger and vowed that they would not rest until they had brought down the rotten system The "skeptic movement" (always spelt with "k" by the way, to emphasise their distinctiveness) had come to Singh's aid.
  • (12) Most remarkably: last July, 60 Minutes reported that Al Sharpton "has decided not to criticize the president about anything " – a vow that should be the ultimate disqualifying attribute for working in journalism: how can someone be employed as a political commentator if they vow never to criticize the president under any circumstances?
  • (13) Griffin vowed to lodge a complaint at the "unfair" way the Question Time programme was produced, despite the BNP's claims that his appearance sparked the "biggest single recruitment night in the party's history".
  • (14) More than 120 couples joined the mass on Sunday morning to renew their wedding vows and celebrate more than 1,700 years of marriage between them.
  • (15) Brandis has asked the ACT government not to put the new laws into effect until the court can determine their validity, but the chief minister, Katy Gallagher, has vowed to press ahead.
  • (16) Instead, he vowed: "That means I will be cautious about the promises I make.
  • (17) Before the August rebellion Uganda and Rwanda both had some troops on the eastern Congo border, by agreement with Mr Kabila and theoretically in joint operations with his forces against the tens of thousands of former Rwandan soldiers and interahamwe who have vowed to continue the genocide in Rwanda.
  • (18) Qatar had vowed to reform the industry after the Guardian exposed the desperate plight of many of its migrant workers last year.
  • (19) In his only specific growth measure, he said Britain's planning laws would have to be scrapped so more housing could be built, vowing to scrap "the suffocating bureaucracy" that he said was holding economic growth back.
  • (20) We look forward to many more years of working with Maria.” Sharapova, who has been provisionally banned while the International tennis Federation decides her fate, has thanked her fans for their support and vowed to return to the game.