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 other China — gloomy China — tells a different story: sluggish consumer spending, rising unemployment, a chronic housing crisis and a business community bracing for the impact of the trade war. —Li Yuan, New York Times, 13 May 2025

In recent months, the council’s budget committee has been hearing increasingly gloomy assessments of the city’s tourism and aviation industries. —David Zahniser, Los Angeles Times, 7 May 2025

And there was a dusty, gloomy portrait of him hanging in my family home. —Dina Kraft, Christian Science Monitor, 5 May 2025

The only hope comes from gloomy Americans and forlorn Eastern Europeans in service to a weary national idea. —Armond White, National Review, 2 May 2025

Word History

Etymology

see gloom entry 1

First Known Use

1588, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Phrases Containing gloomy

• gloomy Gus

Rhymes for gloomy

• roomy