morose

mo·rose

adjective \mə-ˈrōs, mȯ-\

Definition of MOROSE

1

: having a sullen and gloomy disposition

2

: marked by or expressive of gloom

— mo·rose·ly adverb

— mo·rose·ness noun

— mo·ros·i·ty \-ˈrä-sə-tē\ noun

Examples of MOROSE

1. He became morose and withdrawn and would not talk to anyone.
2. <those morose job seekers who have grown accustomed to rejection>
3. She thought of the bootlegger at home—a raddled, skinny old man, morose and suspicious. He sat on his front step with a shotgun on Halloween night. —Alice Munro, Runaway, 2004
4. We have little finished footage to go by, but enough to give us pause: an exquisite clip of Rochefort, sitting with a book in the half-darkness, his eyes wet, gleaming, and morose. —Anthony Lane, New Yorker, 3 Feb. 2003
5. I have never known if Momma sent for us, or if the St. Louis family just got fed up with my grim presence. There is nothing more appalling than a constantly morose child. —Maya Angelou, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, 1969

Origin of MOROSE

Latin morosus, literally, capricious, from mor-, mos will

First Known Use: 1565

Related to MOROSE

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, glum, godforsaken, gray (also grey), lonely, lonesome, lugubrious, miserable, morbid, gloomy, 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 MOROSE

arkose, Carlos, cosmos, crustose, cymose, dextrose, engross, erose, fructose, globose, glucose, jocose, lactose, maltose, mannose, mythos, nodose, pappose, pentose, pilose, plumose, ramose, rhamnose, ribose, rugose, schistose, setose, spinose, strigose, sucrose, Sukkoth, triose, up close, vadose, verbose, viscose