gloomy

adjective

ˈglü-mē 

gloomier; gloomiest

1

a

: partially or totally dark

especially : dismally and depressingly dark

gloomy weather

b

: having a frowning or scowling appearance : forbidding

a gloomy countenance

c

: low in spirits : melancholy

2

a

: causing gloom : depressing

a gloomy story

a gloomy landscape

b

: lacking in promise or hopefulness : pessimistic

gloomy prophecies

a gloomy future

gloomily

ˈglü-mə-lē 

adverb

gloominess

ˈglü-mē-nəs 

noun

Synonyms

• black
• bleak
• cheerless
• chill
• Cimmerian
• cloudy
• cold
• comfortless
• dark
• darkening
• depressing
• depressive
• desolate
• dire
• disconsolate
• dismal
• drear
• dreary
• dreich [chiefly Scottish]
• elegiac
• elegiacal
• forlorn
• funereal
• glum
• godforsaken
• gray
• grey
• lonely
• lonesome
• lugubrious
• miserable
• morbid
• morose
• murky
• plutonian
• saturnine
• sepulchral
• solemn
• somber
• sombre
• sullen
• sunless
• tenebrific
• tenebrous
• wretched

Choose the Right Synonym for gloomy

dismal, dreary, bleak, gloomy, cheerless, desolate mean devoid of cheer or comfort.

dismal indicates extreme and utterly depressing gloominess.

dismal weather

dreary, often interchangeable with dismal, emphasizes discouragement resulting from sustained dullness or futility.

a dreary job

bleak suggests chill, dull, and barren characteristics that utterly dishearten.

the bleak years of the depression

gloomy often suggests lack of hope or promise.

gloomy war news

cheerless stresses absence of anything cheering.

a drab and cheerless office

desolate adds an element of utter remoteness or lack of human contact to any already disheartening aspect.

a desolate outpost

sullen, glum, morose, surly, sulky, crabbed, saturnine, gloomy mean showing a forbidding or disagreeable mood.

sullen implies a silent ill humor and a refusal to be sociable.

remained sullen amid the festivities

glum suggests a silent dispiritedness.

a glum candidate left to ponder a stunning defeat

morose adds to glum an element of bitterness or misanthropy.

morose job seekers who are inured to rejection

surly implies gruffness and sullenness of speech or manner.

a typical surly teenager

sulky suggests childish resentment expressed in peevish sullenness.

grew sulky after every spat

crabbed applies to a forbidding morose harshness of manner.

the school's notoriously crabbed headmaster

saturnine describes a heavy forbidding aspect or suggests a bitter disposition.

a saturnine cynic always finding fault

gloomy implies a depression in mood making for seeming sullenness or glumness.

a gloomy mood ushered in by bad news

Examples of gloomy in a Sentence

We've had a week of gloomy weather.

The news continues to be gloomy.

She doesn't agree with their gloomy economic forecasts.

His book paints a gloomy picture of the prospects for peace.

I've never seen you looking so gloomy.

Recent Examples on the Web

The songs tend to develop through the slow accumulation of stuff—gloomy bass lines, spindly guitars, echoing harmonies—rather than through sophisticated interplay of instrumentation and vocalist. —Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, 19 Apr. 2024

The colors of the forest transformed from a gloomy twilight to a vibrant wave of oranges and yellows. —Elizabeth Gamillo, Discover Magazine, 16 Apr. 2024

Despite the gloomy statistics, Bostic expressed some optimism when discussing housing policy experiments, pointing to efforts to relax zoning rules in Florida and Minnesota. —Jason Ma, Fortune, 13 Apr. 2024

While all of this may paint a gloomy picture for the commercialization of perovskite PVs, the report does point out that perovskite is approaching commercial markets currently with the first solar module manufacturers expected to enter the market later this year or by 2025. —IEEE Spectrum, 26 Mar. 2024

This gloomy experience is in contrast to Ukraine, where correspondents are free to report, to live, and to travel. —Jonathan Steele, The New York Review of Books, 21 Mar. 2024

Even though some Florida officials want spring breakers to stay away, the school vacations and fatigue of gloomy weather will likely still send people seeking sunshine on the beaches . —Kinsey Crowley, USA TODAY, 7 Mar. 2024

The record goes places darker than fans may be used to hearing, but never veers gloomy, and ends rather purposefully on a note of optimism. —Rachel Desantis, Peoplemag, 5 Apr. 2024

Perhaps not even the most ardent conspiracy theorist could have imagined that a humble mind-body effect might have played a role in the pandemic’s gloomy story. —TIME, 4 Apr. 2024

Word History

Etymology

see gloom entry 1

First Known Use

1588, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Phrases Containing gloomy

• gloomy Gus