1
: moodily or sullenly thoughtful or serious
a brooding genius
a brooding, embittered man
2
: darkly somber
a brooding landscape
a quiet, brooding atmosphere
… brooding, violent images reminiscent of … film noir …—
Tracy Hopkins
Tracy Hopkins
broodingly
adverb
a broodingly handsome actor
Gardner gazes broodingly at the camera …
—Kathleen Murphy
Kathleen Murphy
Examples of brooding in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
All in all, his brooding and secretive energy is seemingly the same as the scorpion's.
—Lisa Stardust, People.com, 19 July 2025
And the movie has a real sweetness and sincerity to it, determined to give family audiences a superhero flick that’s not all ponderous brooding and dark origin stories.
—Tim Grierson, Vulture, 11 July 2025
Gone too is the brooding, gritty Man of Steel of previous iterations.
—Ew Staff Published, EW.com, 11 July 2025
In Nolan’s vision, Batman was a vastly complicated superhero, brooding and unknowable.
—Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 11 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for brooding
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Lisa Stardust, People.com, 19 July 2025
And the movie has a real sweetness and sincerity to it, determined to give family audiences a superhero flick that’s not all ponderous brooding and dark origin stories.
—Tim Grierson, Vulture, 11 July 2025
Gone too is the brooding, gritty Man of Steel of previous iterations.
—Ew Staff Published, EW.com, 11 July 2025
In Nolan’s vision, Batman was a vastly complicated superhero, brooding and unknowable.
—Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 11 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for brooding
Cite this Entry
“Brooding.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/brooding. Accessed 8 Aug. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share