brooding 1 of 2

present participle of brood
as in sitting
to cover and warm eggs as the young inside develop don't disturb the hen while she's brooding

Synonyms & Similar Words

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brooding

2 of 2

adjective

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of brooding
Verb
Williams plays Dylan, a brooding bad boy. Denise Petski, Deadline, 12 Sep. 2025 Each of these paintings presents a burst of brightness against a brooding dark background, and each is mysterious. Cullen Murphy, Air Mail, 23 Aug. 2025
Adjective
The song plays out like the kinds of brooding confessionals that take place solo at the bar. Jeff Ihaza, Rolling Stone, 12 Sep. 2025 Murr uses for paper the draft pages of a biography about a struggling brooding composer named Johannes Kreisler; Murr comes off as the less ridiculous and more emotionally healthy of the two. Rivka Galchen, New Yorker, 6 Sep. 2025 See All Example Sentences for brooding
Recent Examples of Synonyms for brooding
Verb
  • Torpey was at Old Trafford on his first day at United, sitting next to Wilcox, to watch Binnion’s under-21s face Athletic Club in the Premier League International Cup.
    Laurie Whitwell, New York Times, 7 Oct. 2025
  • This year’s matchup projects to be just as intense with the Horned Frogs sitting at 4-1 (1-1 Big 12) heading into Saturday’s road game at Kansas State, while Baylor is 4-2 (2-1) and has a bye week.
    Steven Johnson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 6 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • Later that year, Newton was accused of placing his knee into the back of a 25-year-old woman who was nine months pregnant during an arrest.
    Caroline Zimmerman, Kansas City Star, 30 Sep. 2025
  • But soon after bagging six kittens and beating them against the trunk of a tree, their mothers become pregnant again.
    Rebecca van Laer September 30, Literary Hub, 30 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • The series, which also included Frances Bavier as Aunt Bee and Jim Nabors as Gomer Pyle, ran for eight seasons, ending in 1968 and spawning multiple spin-offs.
    Victoria Edel, PEOPLE, 3 Oct. 2025
  • These innocuous-seeming actions can kindle dry vegetation, potentially spawning a wildfire.
    CA Weather Bot, Sacbee.com, 26 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • While grunge seemed peevish, grim, defeatist, and dour—and extended the kind of us-vs.-them culture most famously centered by the indie rock of the ’80s and ’90s, Oasis was celebratory, communal, and democratic while exploring themes of alienation, escape, and fantasies of triumph.
    Corey Seymour, Vogue, 28 July 2025
  • Thousands of people — displaced by disaster, their past lives gone up in smoke — are hostage to the whims of a peevish president who always puts his feelings first and cares nothing for the greater good.
    Mark Z. Barabak, Los Angeles Times, 22 June 2025
Adjective
  • About a year after infection, a fully mature, gravid female worm migrates to the skin, usually in the lower extremities.
    Mark Kortepeter, Forbes, 10 Jan. 2025
  • Paloski said the massasauga encountered could be a gravid female about to give birth.
    Paul A. Smith, Journal Sentinel, 14 Aug. 2022
Verb
  • The two theories triggered widespread alarm in the comment section, with viewers imagining what might be hatching above the woman's hotel bed.
    Melissa Fleur Afshar, MSNBC Newsweek, 24 Sep. 2025
  • This would need to be done at least every two weeks to prevent any new chicks from hatching, according to a US Department of Agriculture Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service document on gull interference with people and businesses.
    Everett Eaton, jsonline.com, 15 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • However, such symptoms are hard to attribute to vaccines because infants can be irritable or fussy regardless of vaccination.
    Aria Bendix, NBC news, 19 Sep. 2025
  • When the caffeine wears off, children may have a headache and feel irritable or tired.
    Dr. Mark Corkins, Boston Herald, 14 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • On Wednesday, July 16, the expectant mom confirmed the exciting news of her pregnancy through a series of photos on Instagram, including a couple of shots of her with the comedian, a sonogram snap and memes from Love Island USA's latest season and Spongebob Squarepants.
    Kayla Grant, PEOPLE, 26 Sep. 2025
  • Industry players were alert and expectant, even as costs at home remain high.
    Mayu Saini, Sourcing Journal, 18 Sep. 2025

Cite this Entry

“Brooding.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/brooding. Accessed 7 Oct. 2025.

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