glum

glum

adjective \ˈgləm\

glum·merglum·mest

Definition of GLUM

1

: broodingly morose <became glum when they heard the news>

2

: dreary, gloomy <a glum countenance>

— glum·ly adverb

— glum·ness noun

Examples of GLUM

1. There's no need to look so glum—things will get better soon.
2. There was a glum silence in the room.

Origin of GLUM

akin to Middle English gloumen to gloom

First Known Use: 1547

Related to GLUM

Synonyms

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

Antonyms

bright, cheerful, cheering, cheery, comforting, cordial, festive, friendly, gay, heartwarming, sunshiny

Related Words

blue, dejected, depressed, despondent, disconsolate, down, droopy, hangdog, inconsolable, low, melancholic, melancholy, mirthless, sad, unhappy, woebegone, woeful; dim, discomfiting, discouraging, disheartening, dismaying, dispiriting, distressful, distressing, upsetting; desperate, hopeless, pessimistic; lamentable, mournful, plaintive, sorrowful; colorless, drab, dull; dour, grim, lowering (also louring), lowery (also loury), menacing, negative, oppressive, threatening

Near Antonyms

blithe, blithesome, buoyant, gay, jocund, jolly, joyful, joyous, merry, mirthful; encouraging, hopeful, optimistic; lighthearted, lightsome

See Synonym Discussion at sullen

Rhymes with GLUM

bum, chum, come, crumb, cum, drum, dumb, from, gum, hum, lum, mum, numb, plum, plumb, rum, scrum, scum, slum, some, strum, sum, them, thrum, thumb