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brooding

[ broo-ding ]

/ ˈbru dɪŋ /

SEE SYNONYMS FOR brooding ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

preoccupied with depressing, morbid, or painful memories or thoughts: a brooding frame of mind.

cast in subdued light so as to convey a somewhat threatening atmosphere: Dusk fell on the brooding hills.

VIDEO FOR BROODING

WATCH NOW: What Makes Attractive People "Brooding"?

What do Ryan Gosling and a mother Canada goose have in common? They are both dark and brooding.

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QUIZZES

QUIZ YOURSELF ON THESE WORDS FROM BROWN GIRL DREAMING!

Visualize yourself passing this quiz on words from Jacqueline Woodson’s exquisite verse novel “Brown Girl Dreaming,” and then take the quiz to prove you can do it! (Because you can.)

Question 1 of 10

What does “barren” mean?

a cylindrical wooden container with slightly bulging sides.

Worn down by dullness, tedious repetition.

unproductive; unfruitful

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of brooding

1810–20 for def. 1; 1640–50 for def. 2; brood + -ing²

OTHER WORDS FROM brooding

brood·ing·ly, adverbnon·brood·ing, adjective, nounun·brood·ing, adjective

Words nearby brooding

brooch, brood, brood bitch, brood bud, brooder, brooding, broodmare, brood parasite, brood parasitism, brood pouch, broody

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Example sentences from the Web for brooding

Carell is good in a brooding, atmospheric movie but Channing Tatum and Mark Ruffalo are better.
Channing Tatum Is the Real Star of ‘Foxcatcher'|Nico Hines|October 23, 2014|DAILY BEAST
In the Jockey ad, half of Jim Palmer's princely, brooding face is fully lighted, the other half is masked in shadow.
Will the Real Jim Palmer Please Stand Up|Tom Boswell|September 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST
I had left a party early, brooding about why I felt so strongly about something that, ostensibly, had “nothing to do with me.”
Men Without a Country: Mike Brown, Trayvon Martin, My Father and Me|Arthur Chu|August 12, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Hollywood is gripped by an obsession so all-consuming that no blockbuster is safe from its brooding influence.
The Ghastly ‘Maleficent’ and Why It’s Time For Hollywood to Kill the Dark Reboot|Andrew Romano|May 31, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Nine times out of ten, it will conjure up an image of a brooding, sweaty, long-haired hunk.
Taylor Kitsch on ‘The Normal Heart,’ Homophobic Right-Wingers, and Gays in the Military|Marlow Stern|May 23, 2014|DAILY BEAST
All at once a man rose from somewhere and stood, a dark splotch, against the brooding heat of the sky.
My Country|Marie, Queen of Rumania
Once more she dropped her chin upon her hand and fell to brooding, her eyes upon the river.
Audrey|Mary Johnston
She lay in bed for several days, scarcely touching food, brooding upon her disgrace until she was really ill.
The Cricket|Marjorie Cooke
It had made her eager and parted-lipped, and passionate for all the brooding joys of existence.
The Blood Red Dawn|Charles Caldwell Dobie
Anything more drear and depressing than the brooding gloom of the haunted wood could hardly be imagined.
Haviland's Chum|Bertram Mitford

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