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He became morose and withdrawn and would not talk to anyone.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

The footage revealed the morose state of Cherry Tree Lane in London’s slump era, where the Banks family is distraught following the death of Michael’s wife.

— marc snetiker, PEOPLE.com, "Emily Blunt Is Practically Perfect in Every Way in First Mary Poppins Returns Footage," 15 July 2017
Typical sad Limey stuff from a day when Morrissey was still just a morose Manchester kid writing fan letters to the New York Dolls.

— davey g. johnson, Car and Driver, "The Spirit of ’76: The Custom Cloud Was an Ersatz Rolls-Royce Out of Florida," 4 July 2017
The Answers follows Mary Parsons, a peculiar, morose, blank slate of a girl from Tennessee.

— nina renata aron, New Republic, "Love in the Gig Economy," 15 June 2017
That would explain a lot, except there’s not enough sun; the continuity is so inept that we get whisked directly from a bright and glorious day, in one shot, to another that looks gray and morose.

— anthony lane, The New Yorker, "“Baywatch” and “Letters from Baghdad”," 5 June 2017
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
The matinee morose cast over 32,267 fans at Camden Yards set in early when the long innings forged the result before a late comeback effort came up short.

— jon meoli, baltimoresun.com, "Long innings, short starts continue to haunt Orioles against Twins," 24 May 2017
The rest fall into the same category of morose rock anthems that Linkin Park has been dutifully putting out for years.

— patrick ryan, USA TODAY, "Paramore, Linkin Park take big swings, but only one hits," 15 May 2017

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

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First Known Use: 1565

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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