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
With the excitement and delusion of Humbert Humbert imposing a purple-prose narrative on his pedophilic assumptions, Hank speaks of his former student like a James Dean figure — beautiful, brooding and quietly intelligent.
—Jourdain Searles, HollywoodReporter, 28 Oct. 2025
Front man Coleman cuts a tall, brooding figure, saving his emotions for his vocal delivery and occasional pronouncements on the importance of faith.
—Brian McCollum, Freep.com, 5 Oct. 2025
When One Tree Hill premiered in 2003, Chad Michael Murray had already cemented his status as a brooding heartthrob.
—Alexandra Schonfeld, PEOPLE, 23 Sep. 2025
Missy's brooding brother Cliff (Bradford) homes in on Torrance as a potential love connection, while Torrance leads the Toros to a stunning defeat at the hands of the East Compton Clovers after it's revealed that Big Red plagiarized the routine charted out by their impeccable captain Isis (Union).
—Ryan Coleman, Entertainment Weekly, 23 Sep. 2025
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Jourdain Searles, HollywoodReporter, 28 Oct. 2025
Front man Coleman cuts a tall, brooding figure, saving his emotions for his vocal delivery and occasional pronouncements on the importance of faith.
—Brian McCollum, Freep.com, 5 Oct. 2025
When One Tree Hill premiered in 2003, Chad Michael Murray had already cemented his status as a brooding heartthrob.
—Alexandra Schonfeld, PEOPLE, 23 Sep. 2025
Missy's brooding brother Cliff (Bradford) homes in on Torrance as a potential love connection, while Torrance leads the Toros to a stunning defeat at the hands of the East Compton Clovers after it's revealed that Big Red plagiarized the routine charted out by their impeccable captain Isis (Union).
—Ryan Coleman, Entertainment Weekly, 23 Sep. 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 4 Nov. 2025.
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