Synonyms of morose

morose

adjective

mə-ˈrōs 

as in somber

causing or marked by an atmosphere lacking in cheer

those morose job seekers who have grown accustomed to rejection

Synonyms & Similar Words

• somber
• bleak
• depressive
• depressing
• lonely
• dark
• solemn
• desolate
• morbid
• darkening
• lonesome
• murky
• depressed
• gray
• cold
• miserable
• sullen
• funereal
• gloomy
• blue
• glum
• black
• lugubrious
• cheerless
• sad
• disconsolate
• elegiac
• saturnine
• wretched
• melancholy
• dreary
• forlorn
• chill
• dismal
• sepulchral
• oppressive
• cloudy
• dire
• comfortless
• melancholic
• drear
• unhappy
• mournful
• dreich
• tenebrous
• dejected
• despondent
• godforsaken
• desperate
• woebegone
• plutonian
• hopeless
• dull
• mirthless
• Cimmerian
• sunless
• inconsolable
• grim
• pessimistic
• negative
• dim
• dispiriting
• distressful
• sorrowful
• droopy
• discouraging
• distressing
• menacing
• tenebrific
• disheartening
• woeful
• hangdog
• dismaying
• plaintive
• upsetting
• dour
• low
• down
• drab
• lamentable
• discomfiting
• colorless
• threatening
• lowering
• lowery

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• cheerful
• friendly
• bright
• cheery
• festive
• gay
• cordial
• comforting
• sunshiny
• joyous
• joyful
• jolly
• merry
• buoyant
• mirthful
• gay
• blithe
• optimistic
• hopeful
• encouraging
• heartwarming
• cheering
• blithesome
• jocund
• lighthearted
• lightsome

Synonym Chooser

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

Some common synonyms of morose are crabbed, gloomy, glum, saturnine, sulky, sullen, and surly. While all these words mean "showing a forbidding or disagreeable mood," morose adds to glum an element of bitterness or misanthropy.

morose job seekers who are inured to rejection

When can crabbed be used instead of morose?

The synonyms crabbed and morose are sometimes interchangeable, but crabbed applies to a forbidding morose harshness of manner.

the school's notoriously crabbed headmaster

When is gloomy a more appropriate choice than morose?

The meanings of gloomy and morose largely overlap; however, gloomy implies a depression in mood making for seeming sullenness or glumness.

a gloomy mood ushered in by bad news

In what contexts can glum take the place of morose?

The words glum and morose are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, glum suggests a silent dispiritedness.

a glum candidate left to ponder a stunning defeat

Where would saturnine be a reasonable alternative to morose?

Although the words saturnine and morose have much in common, 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 morose?

While the synonyms sulky and morose are close in meaning, sulky suggests childish resentment expressed in peevish sullenness.

grew sulky after every spat

When could sullen be used to replace morose?

The words sullen and morose can be used in similar contexts, but sullen implies a silent ill humor and a refusal to be sociable.

remained sullen amid the festivities

When might surly be a better fit than morose?

While in some cases nearly identical to morose, surly implies gruffness and sullenness of speech or manner.

a typical surly teenager

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of morose

Despite its serious subject matter, the novel is neither morbid nor morose. —Los Angeles Times, 26 Jan. 2026

The mood is neither morose nor blindly optimistic, even as the film celebrates the sense of family and community among these Southerners. —David Fear, Rolling Stone, 17 Jan. 2026

The management changes come less than six weeks after Bellettini, one of Kering’s most visible and accomplished executives, was tasked with turning around Gucci amid a morose climate for luxury players. —Miles Socha, Footwear News, 28 Oct. 2025

Appropriate to the popular conception of the morose genius, Poe’s initial 1849 funeral, held amidst the October gloom, was sparsely attended. —Literary Hub, 8 Oct. 2025