Definition of glumnext
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as in sad
feeling unhappiness how can you be glum after such a great day?

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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Synonym Chooser

How is the word glum different from other adjectives like it?

Some common synonyms of glum are crabbed, gloomy, morose, saturnine, sulky, sullen, and surly. While all these words mean "showing a forbidding or disagreeable mood," glum suggests a silent dispiritedness.

a glum candidate left to ponder a stunning defeat

When is crabbed a more appropriate choice than glum?

Although the words crabbed and glum have much in common, crabbed applies to a forbidding morose harshness of manner.

the school's notoriously crabbed headmaster

When can gloomy be used instead of glum?

In some situations, the words gloomy and glum are roughly equivalent. However, gloomy implies a depression in mood making for seeming sullenness or glumness.

a gloomy mood ushered in by bad news

How do morose and glum relate to one another?

Morose adds to glum an element of bitterness or misanthropy.

morose job seekers who are inured to rejection

When might saturnine be a better fit than glum?

While the synonyms saturnine and glum are close in meaning, saturnine describes a heavy forbidding aspect or suggests a bitter disposition.

a saturnine cynic always finding fault

When is it sensible to use sulky instead of glum?

The words sulky and glum can be used in similar contexts, but sulky suggests childish resentment expressed in peevish sullenness.

grew sulky after every spat

When would sullen be a good substitute for glum?

The meanings of sullen and glum largely overlap; however, sullen implies a silent ill humor and a refusal to be sociable.

remained sullen amid the festivities

When could surly be used to replace glum?

The synonyms surly and glum are sometimes interchangeable, but surly implies gruffness and sullenness of speech or manner.

a typical surly teenager

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 glum All quiet There are two reasons why polling places were so quiet Tuesday, and perhaps why some poll workers were so glum. Teri Sforza, Oc Register, 3 June 2026 In a funny touch of feminist commentary, the Pounds parents are intent on their bratty son Andrew (Hamnet survivor Jacobi Jupe) getting the best possible education but less bothered about glum daughter Drissila (Evie Templeton). David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 22 May 2026 Senior figures were glum in the weeks after. Jacob Tanswell, New York Times, 21 May 2026 The recent rise in prices has left many consumers feeling glum. Max Zahn, ABC News, 12 May 2026 See All Example Sentences for glum
Recent Examples of Synonyms for glum
Adjective
  • The goofy sketch comedies and homemade spoofs that once filled his channel gradually disappeared, replaced by melancholy short films and bleak monologues.
    Stephanie Nolasco, FOXNews.com, 27 June 2026
  • Cher’s court documents paint a bleak picture of how Allman, 49, allegedly blows through his $120,000 annual trust distributions.
    Nancy Dillon, Rolling Stone, 25 June 2026
Adjective
  • Then Greene takes a long, sad subway ride home, and America learns that one of their favorite TV doctors isn't flawless.
    EW Staff, Entertainment Weekly, 25 June 2026
  • Local foodies were sad to hear owner Sylvia Chung (Momma Chung) retired and closed the south Fort Worth restaurant in October of last year.
    Ella Gonzales, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 22 June 2026
Adjective
  • Cancer could be affectionate and chatty one moment, and withdrawn and irritable the next, with little to no explanation.
    Valerie Mesa, PEOPLE, 23 June 2026
  • They can be withdrawn or irritable.
    Jessica Guynn, USA Today, 14 June 2026
Adjective
  • The film breathes in a dynamic way, the last few beats taking a startling turn toward a somber wistfulness.
    Mark Olsen, Los Angeles Times, 25 June 2026
  • The hilltop De Smet Cemetery strikes a somber note.
    Alicia Underlee Nelson, Midwest Living, 22 June 2026
Adjective
  • New-home construction tumbled, then stayed depressed for over a decade.
    Andrea Riquier, USA Today, 24 June 2026
  • These figures mark a clear increase from depressed crossing rates seen during much of the Iran war since its start in late February.
    Rhea Mogul, CNN Money, 23 June 2026
Adjective
  • Wilde’s Angela is expressive and antic; Rogen’s Joe is sullen and snarky.
    Mark Olsen, Los Angeles Times, 25 June 2026
  • Now, in a more intimate setting, the sullen and sometimes-sarcastic shadings of this longtime singer-songwriter should hark back to Folds’ fledgling days on the alt-music scene.
    David L. Coddon, San Diego Union-Tribune, 14 May 2026
Adjective
  • But the book’s ruminative watchfulness is unsuccessfully conjugated in this overly sedate play with music, which has the feel of a song cycle, though sung by the fine cast with gorgeous, lonely sorrow.
    Brian Seibert, New Yorker, 19 June 2026
  • One casualty was his lovely Princeton apartment, which never came together, more grad-student than dean in its feel, a lonely refrigerator in the kitchen holding only a cup of iced coffee or a jar of mayonnaise.
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 18 June 2026
Adjective
  • Isdin Melatonik If traditional retinoids have left your sensitive skin unhappy, Isdin's Melatonik Recovery Night Serum offers a gentler approach with bakuchiol.
    Christa Joanna Lee, Allure, 23 June 2026
  • Brown and the Celtics have both since denied speculation that the 29-year-old second-team All-NBA selection was unhappy with his role in Boston.
    Peter Sblendorio, New York Daily News, 22 June 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Glum.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/glum. Accessed 30 Jun. 2026.

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