gloom

1 of 2

verb

ˈglüm 

gloomed; glooming; glooms

intransitive verb

1

: to look, feel, or act sullen or despondent

2

: to be or become overcast

3

: to loom up dimly

transitive verb

: to make dark, murky, or somber : make gloomy

gloom

2 of 2

noun

1

a

: partial or total darkness

b

: a dark or shadowy place

2

a

: lowness of spirits : dejection

b

: an atmosphere of despondency

a gloom fell over the household

Synonyms

Verb

• frown
• glare
• glower
• lower
• lour
• scowl

Noun

• blue devils
• blues
• dejection
• depression
• desolation
• despond
• despondence
• despondency
• disconsolateness
• dispiritedness
• doldrums
• dolefulness
• downheartedness
• dreariness
• dumps
• forlornness
• gloominess
• glumness
• heartsickness
• joylessness
• melancholy
• miserableness
• mopes
• mournfulness
• oppression
• sadness
• sorrowfulness
• unhappiness

Examples of gloom in a Sentence

Verb

we just sat there, glooming, as we waited and waited for our dinners to arrive

he continued to gloom over the fact that he had been passed over for promotion to district manager

Noun

The painting captures the gloom of a foggy night.

He walked away, disappearing into the gloom.

the gloom of the forest

He was often subject to periods of gloom.

A cloud of gloom has descended over the city.

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Recent Examples on the Web

Verb

But, there is still gloom ahead for economies in the region. —Emiko Jozuka, CNN, 5 Oct. 2022

Our imperviousness to gloom is our own peculiar virtue. —Murr Brewster, The Christian Science Monitor, 7 Mar. 2022

Their allusion to the night refers not to gloom but to evening intimacies, the pianist and scholar Kenneth Hamilton said in an interview. —New York Times, 13 Aug. 2021

The more doom and gloom the policy makers incorporate into their scenarios before setting market prices and rules, the safer the grid can be. —Jinjoo Lee, WSJ, 26 Feb. 2021

Noun

Still this show’s final gallery has a shock: after all that gloom, a blast of bright light. —Jason Farago, New York Times, 25 Oct. 2023

In a period of doom and gloom for the commercial real estate sector, hammered by remote work and high vacancy rates in cities across the U.S., the deal offers a dose of hope. —Steve Mollman, Fortune, 28 Oct. 2023

February, in all its freezing gloom, will mark the second anniversary of what has become a grinding conflict with no clear end in sight. —Laura King, Los Angeles Times, 3 Oct. 2023

Mary Daly, president of the San Francisco Fed, pointed to the dizziness of the past few years to explain why the gloom still cuts through. —Rachel Siegel, Washington Post, 19 Sep. 2023

Early on October 14, our lunar satellite will briefly hover before the sun, obscuring the dawn and immersing millions of people in a strange morning gloom. —Ramin Skibba, WIRED, 13 Oct. 2023

Even so, McBride insists, light shines in the gloom. —Erin Douglass, The Christian Science Monitor, 12 Oct. 2023

The fallout from all this purposeful gloom isn’t merely that nothing surprises us; even Del Toro’s committed portrayal of a careful man’s gathering disillusionment gets jammed up. —Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times, 29 Sep. 2023

As in recent years, the deliberations are taking place amid a profound gloom. —Ishaan Tharoor, Washington Post, 19 Sep. 2023

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Word History

Etymology

Verb and Noun

Middle English gloumen

First Known Use

Verb

14th century, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1

Noun

1629, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Phrases Containing gloom

• gloom and doom

• gloom and doom

Kids Definition

gloom

1 of 2 verb

ˈglüm 

1

: to look sullen, discouraged, or depressed

2

: to be or become overcast

gloom

2 of 2 noun

1

: partial or total darkness

2

: a sad mood

gloomily

ˈglü-mə-lē

adverb

gloominess

-mē-nəs

noun

gloomy

-mē

adjective