mope
Americanverb (used without object)
-
mopes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
moped,
past participle, past
-
moping
present participle
verb (used with object)
-
mopes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
moped,
past participle, past
-
moping
present participle
noun
-
a person who mopes or is given to moping.
-
mopes, depressed spirits; blues.
verb
-
to be gloomy or apathetic
there's no time to mope
-
to move or act in an aimless way
he moped around the flat
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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mopesimple
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mopessimple
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have mopedperfect
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has mopedperfect
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am mopingprogressive
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are mopingprogressive
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is mopingprogressive
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have been mopingperfect progressive
-
has been mopingperfect progressive
Past
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mopedsimple
-
had mopedperfect
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was mopingprogressive
-
were mopingprogressive
-
had been mopingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of mope
First recorded in 1560–70; variant of mop 2
Explanation
When you're bummed out, I bet you sometimes mope. Moping is something people do when they're feeling gloomy and doomy and sad. Moping never solved a problem, but we all do it when things aren't going our way. A moping person is usually frowning, slouched over, quiet, and maybe even lying down. We mope when we're sad, but part of moping is directed at other people, because moping is at least a little public. When someone says you're "moping around," they can tell you're trying to let everyone know how sad you are. To mope is to say "Hey! Somebody cheer me up!"
Vocabulary lists containing mope
"The Mixer," Vocabulary from the short story
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"The Open Window"
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"The Jacket"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
It was frustrating to watch Carrie, Charlotte and Miranda mope around the first two seasons, trying to find their place in a world that changed too fast for them to keep up.
From Salon ● Jul. 15, 2025
Women who weep are seen as "too emotional" while men who mope can be shamed for being soft and vulnerable, she says.
From BBC ● Jul. 4, 2025
Fortunately, Sennott is entertaining even as a mope.
From New York Times ● Jun. 7, 2024
On its surface level, however, “I Saw the TV Glow” is just about a mope.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 2, 2024
For a while I mope around the Mary Rose and the dock.
From "The Young Man and the Sea" by Rodman Philbrick
“Maddie doesn’t listen to me,” she complains, then mopes.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 16, 2021
While David mopes around, wallowing in his angst, Georgia is a model of multitasking, caring for the kids, finishing a novel and, at one point, helping a friend give birth.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 29, 2020
It seems cruel to send her off to live her final years with my in-laws because she gets sad and mopes when we’re not around.
From Slate ● Jan. 24, 2020
At its weakest, though, Ford’s prose mopes with at-hand utterances: “part and parcel,” “pride and joy,” “this and that.”
From Washington Post ● Apr. 28, 2017
He complains he’s getting out of shape, but then just mopes around the house and watches Star Wars for the bazillionth time.
From "P.S. I Miss You" by Jen Petro-Roy
Simson's moped division puttered on after the 1989 fall of the Berlin Wall but eventually went bust in 2002.
From Barron's ● Sep. 4, 2026
Anything faster is classified as an moped or e-motorcycle, which can require someone to have a motorcycle classification on their license.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2026
Richard Thompson says his wife was working a night shift as a carer in Grimsby when her moped was stolen.
From BBC ● May 19, 2026
In some cities this week there were long queues of moped riders at petrol stations panic-buying fuel.
From BBC ● Mar. 12, 2026
“What? Why not? It’ll get us to the moped faster.”
From "The Season of Styx Malone" by Kekla Magoon
He doesn’t respond to his various wake-up calls with stubborn defiance but a curiosity that shifts his moping into something akin to a geeky, fun-loving second adolescence.
From Salon ● Apr. 5, 2026
Instead of moping over the setback, Ohtani has started eyeing his next boundary-pushing maneuver: To be a leadoff hitter and high-leverage reliever in the same game.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 29, 2025
As macho as the protagonist of a Lifetime movie, moping like an adolescent and watching too much TV, Mr. White’s Springsteen is clearly depressed, but Mr. Cooper’s script doesn’t provide much illumination.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2025
Mr Dixon-Box said: "There's no use moping about saying there's a skills gap, the best way is to teach people and for them to learn."
From BBC ● Jul. 9, 2023
Everyone has noticed me moping around the house, but I’ve refused to talk about what happened.
From "South of Somewhere" by Kalena Miller
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
