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

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 morose In this family road-trip pic set during the 2008 financial crisis, one disturbing sequence after another is played out on the morose face of John Magaro, who is clearly keeping the truth from them — and us — of what this journey is actually all about. Damon Wise, Deadline, 2 Feb. 2025 The always astonishing Ben Whishaw plays the sweet, morose, gay, chain-smoking, furtively sincere, faraway-eyed Hujar, a veteran freelance photographer who was just coming into his own as a gallery artist and downtown scenester. Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 27 Jan. 2025 But none of it would have landed had Gad, Lee, and the rest of the Frozen 2 creative team stuck with the morose original cut. Ryan Coleman, EW.com, 15 Jan. 2025 But many others don’t fit this stereotype, appearing morose or burdened. Julia Binswanger, Smithsonian Magazine, 8 Jan. 2025 See All Example Sentences for morose
Recent Examples of Synonyms for morose
Adjective
  • Rayburn partners up with local sheriff Alice Gustafson (Annabelle Wallis) in a somber yet tumultuous pursuit of a killer who uses brutal traps and primal tactics.
    Travis Bean, Forbes.com, 17 May 2025
  • That’s the question writer-director Ari Aster’s somber comedy-Western Eddington, playing in competition here at the Cannes Film Festival, appears to be asking.
    Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 17 May 2025
Adjective
  • The latest Email Threat Trends Report from VIPRE paints a bleak picture.
    Zak Doffman, Forbes.com, 20 May 2025
  • Related article Putin just called Trump’s bluff on Ukraine, with the Russian art of the ‘no’ deal Ukraine in 2025 is a bleak prospect.
    Nick Paton Walsh, CNN Money, 19 May 2025
Adjective
  • Weaker but still significant effects were observed in those without depressive symptoms.
    Paul McClure May 14, New Atlas, 14 May 2025
  • This makes sense because a recent study found that 59% of yoga participants had reduced depressive symptoms after practicing heated yoga weekly for just 8 weeks.
    Dominique Fluker, Essence, 9 May 2025
Adjective
  • Instead, Chernow devotes a hefty portion of his 1,039 pages (excluding notes) to Twain’s personal tribulations, a depressing series of bungles and calamities starting in the author’s middle age.
    Graeme Wood, The Atlantic, 9 May 2025
  • The lack of business on Sunday and Monday nights could be especially depressing.
    Stephanie Breijo, Los Angeles Times, 8 May 2025
Adjective
  • Similarly, a cat was sent to a shelter after 10 years in a home after his owner passed away, leaving him lonely and searching for a new home.
    Alice Gibbs, MSNBC Newsweek, 17 May 2025
  • Health officials have said the United States is facing a mental health crisis, and in 2023, nearly 1 in 4 adults around the world reported feeling fairly or very lonely.
    Madeline Holcombe, CNN Money, 17 May 2025
Adjective
  • With their golden yellow rays surrounding a dark cone, Rudbeckias are quintessential summer blooms.
    Kim Toscano, Southern Living, 22 May 2025
  • Related Stories All About Jalen Brunson's Parents, Sandra and Rick Brunson See Photos of Timothée Chalamet, Ben Affleck, Jon Bernthal and More On May 16, Chalamet wore a Chrome Hearts tracksuit in a dark navy blue.
    Starr Bowenbank, People.com, 22 May 2025
Adjective
  • A lot of people have this idea of the north as being cold and desolate, and maybe people, once upon a time, lived up there, but don't anymore.
    Dana Feldman, Forbes.com, 22 Apr. 2025
  • The Memphis rapper began the show with dramatics, rising on a giant platform with her back to the audience as a screen behind her projected the image of a desolate street.
    John Lonsdale, Rolling Stone, 12 Apr. 2025
Adjective
  • Yet the morbid final phase of Twain’s writing, though always less popular (in part because much of it was unpublished during his life), is to my taste still sublime.
    Graeme Wood, The Atlantic, 9 May 2025
  • Certainly many people will come — or watch at home — out of morbid curiosity.
    Jocelyn Noveck, Boston Herald, 9 May 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Morose.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/morose. Accessed 25 May. 2025.

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