cast a pall

cast a pall (third-person singular simple present casts a pall, present participle casting a pall, simple past and past participle cast a pall)

1. (transitive with on or over) To spoil (something); to cast a feeling of gloom (over something).
   • 2012 June 21, Alessandra Stanley, “So Sayeth the Anchorman”, in The New York Times‎, →ISSN:

     There are some wonderful verbal volleys, but at times the piety is so thick it casts a pall on the humor — like walking out of a funeral and straight into a backyard bounce house.

• “cast a pall on/over”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.