gloomy

adjective

ˈglü-mē 

gloomier; gloomiest

1

a

: partially or totally dark

especially : dismally and depressingly dark

gloomy weather

b

: having a frowning or scowling appearance : forbidding

a gloomy countenance

c

: low in spirits : melancholy

2

a

: causing gloom : depressing

a gloomy story

a gloomy landscape

b

: lacking in promise or hopefulness : pessimistic

gloomy prophecies

a gloomy future

gloomily

ˈglü-mə-lē 

adverb

gloominess

ˈglü-mē-nəs 

noun

Synonyms

• black
• bleak
• cheerless
• chill
• Cimmerian
• cloudy
• cold
• comfortless
• dark
• darkening
• depressing
• depressive
• desolate
• dire
• disconsolate
• dismal
• drear
• dreary
• dreich [chiefly Scottish]
• elegiac
• elegiacal
• forlorn
• funereal
• glum
• godforsaken
• gray
• grey
• lonely
• lonesome
• lugubrious
• miserable
• morbid
• morose
• murky
• plutonian
• saturnine
• sepulchral
• solemn
• somber
• sombre
• sullen
• sunless
• tenebrific
• tenebrous
• wretched

Choose the Right Synonym for gloomy

dismal, dreary, bleak, gloomy, cheerless, desolate mean devoid of cheer or comfort.

dismal indicates extreme and utterly depressing gloominess.

dismal weather

dreary, often interchangeable with dismal, emphasizes discouragement resulting from sustained dullness or futility.

a dreary job

bleak suggests chill, dull, and barren characteristics that utterly dishearten.

the bleak years of the depression

gloomy often suggests lack of hope or promise.

gloomy war news

cheerless stresses absence of anything cheering.

a drab and cheerless office

desolate adds an element of utter remoteness or lack of human contact to any already disheartening aspect.

a desolate outpost

sullen, glum, morose, surly, sulky, crabbed, saturnine, gloomy mean showing a forbidding or disagreeable mood.

sullen implies a silent ill humor and a refusal to be sociable.

remained sullen amid the festivities

glum suggests a silent dispiritedness.

a glum candidate left to ponder a stunning defeat

morose adds to glum an element of bitterness or misanthropy.

morose job seekers who are inured to rejection

surly implies gruffness and sullenness of speech or manner.

a typical surly teenager

sulky suggests childish resentment expressed in peevish sullenness.

grew sulky after every spat

crabbed applies to a forbidding morose harshness of manner.

the school's notoriously crabbed headmaster

saturnine describes a heavy forbidding aspect or suggests a bitter disposition.

a saturnine cynic always finding fault

gloomy implies a depression in mood making for seeming sullenness or glumness.

a gloomy mood ushered in by bad news

Examples of gloomy in a Sentence

We've had a week of gloomy weather.

The news continues to be gloomy.

She doesn't agree with their gloomy economic forecasts.

His book paints a gloomy picture of the prospects for peace.

I've never seen you looking so gloomy.

Recent Examples on the Web

The record goes places darker than fans may be used to hearing, but never veers gloomy, and ends rather purposefully on a note of optimism. —Rachel Desantis, Peoplemag, 5 Apr. 2024

Perhaps not even the most ardent conspiracy theorist could have imagined that a humble mind-body effect might have played a role in the pandemic’s gloomy story. —TIME, 4 Apr. 2024

Pollen levels are forecast to dip to a low-medium level between Thursday and Friday in Sacramento as gloomy weather returns. —Brianna Taylor, Sacramento Bee, 3 Apr. 2024

In early March, Foot Locker’s stock fell drastically after the company reported a loss for its 2023 fourth quarter and a gloomy 2024 financial outlook. —Francisco Velasquez, Quartz, 3 Apr. 2024

With no windows, the gloomy, gray building looming four stories above the rice fields in a remote village in Indonesian Borneo resembles nothing more than a prison. —Muktita Suhartono Nyimas Laula, New York Times, 2 Apr. 2024

What results is a palette that’s at once gloomy and glossy, evoking the early vampire classics Lachman studied in preparation — German expressionist exemplars like 1922’s Nosferatu and 1932’s Vampyr, as well as Universal Pictures’ original Dracula from 1931. —Matthew Jacobs, The Hollywood Reporter, 22 Feb. 2024

Notwithstanding today’s gloomy headlines, the rhymes of history seem to suggest a bright future for EVs. —Tracy Price, Forbes, 28 Mar. 2024

The gloomy conditions that loom over Sacramento are here to stay — at least through the weekend. —Brianna Taylor, Sacramento Bee, 27 Mar. 2024

Word History

Etymology

see gloom entry 1

First Known Use

1588, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Phrases Containing gloomy

• gloomy Gus