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brooding

adjective brood·ing \ ˈbrü-diŋ \
|Updated on: 14 Jul 2018

Definition of brooding

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
—

broodingly

adverb
    • a broodingly handsome actor
    • Gardner gazes broodingly at the camera …
    • —Kathleen Murphy

See brooding defined for English-language learners

Recent Examples of brooding from the Web

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'brooding.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

First Known Use of brooding

1818

in the meaning defined at sense 1

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Learn More about brooding

  1. Nglish: Translation of brooding for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of brooding for Arabic speakers

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