Definition of MOROSE

Examples of morose in a Sentence

She thought of the bootlegger at home—a raddled, skinny old man, morose and suspicious. He sat on his front step with a shotgun on Halloween night. —Alice Munro, Runaway, 2004
We have little finished footage to go by, but enough to give us pause: an exquisite clip of Rochefort, sitting with a book in the half-darkness, his eyes wet, gleaming, and morose. —Anthony Lane, New Yorker, 3 Feb. 2003
I have never known if Momma sent for us, or if the St. Louis family just got fed up with my grim presence. There is nothing more appalling than a constantly morose child. —Maya Angelou, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, 1969
He became morose and withdrawn and would not talk to anyone.
those morose job seekers who have grown accustomed to rejection

Recent Examples of morose from the Web

But the mug shot of an unshaven, tired and morose looking Woods won’t play well in any marketing campaign.

— jeff schultz, ajc, "Forget golf: Tiger Woods’ arrest needs to be his last bottom", 29 May 2017
Charlie Brown and Linus appear silently in three panels, sitting and looking morose.

— New York Times, "Letters to the Editor", 27 May 2017
Sounds morose but guess what: life is a terminal condition.

— AJC.com, "UPDATED! Five things to do on the Marietta Square", 6 Jan. 2017
Although his lyrics are heavy with meaning, Declan McKenna is far from being morose.

— crissy milazzo, Teen Vogue, "Declan McKenna on His Musical Inspiration and the Activist Power of Gen Z", 9 Sep. 2016
Buffon, who made his first appearance for Italy in 1997, was understandably more morose.

— sam borden, New York Times, "Germany Defeats Italy in Shootout Because the Rules Require a Winner", 2 July 2016
Then to humanity: [Negroes] have emerged at the end of two hundred and fifty years of bondage, not morose, misanthropic, and revengeful, but cheerful, hopeful, and forgiving.

— stephanie hayes, The Atlantic, "Frederick Douglass in The Atlantic", 2 Feb. 2016
Mark Wahlberg would kindly ask you to forget the morose slog that was Max Payne.

— matt patches, Esquire, "See Michael Fassbender in Assassin's Creed and Say Hello to Your Video Game Movie Future", 27 Aug. 2015
Ryan Adams, The Suicide Handbook, 2001 The label allegedly rejected this set for being too morose.

— chris baker, WIRED, "Lost: Wired’s Guide to Pop Culture’s Buried Treasure", 30 Aug. 2011

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

Origin and Etymology of morose

Latin morosus, literally, capricious, from mor-, mos will

First Known Use: 1565

morose Synonyms

Synonym Discussion of morose

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

morose