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brooding

[ broo-ding ]

/ ˈbru dɪŋ /

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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

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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QUIZ

WILL YOU SAIL OR STUMBLE ON THESE GRAMMAR QUESTIONS?

Smoothly step over to these common grammar mistakes that trip many people up. Good luck!

Question 1 of 7

Fill in the blank: I can’t figure out _____ gave me this gift.

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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. 2023

How to use brooding in a sentence

A little theatrical brooding about recovery and renaissance can go a long way.
The park setting of ‘In the Middle of the Fields’ is compelling but can’t make up for the sliver of a plot|Celia Wren|May 27, 2021|Washington Post
What defines Theroux, aside from abs that have been known to make the paparazzi pant, is a brooding, cerebral sense of alienation.
Justin Theroux Is Great in The Mosquito Coast. But What Is This Muddled Meditation on American Life Trying to Say?|Judy Berman|April 29, 2021|Time
The animated episodes contain a noirish quality, a brooding seriousness that Oldenburg said was done deliberately in order to draw the contrast with the bits’ silliness.
A scripted comedy series was about to be shut down by covid. So producers made everyone into a cartoon instead.|Steven Zeitchik|April 16, 2021|Washington Post
Saturday’s overcast appeared milky and chalky rather than sullen and brooding.
Saturday was the 100th day of the year, and warm, as such a day should be|Martin Weil|April 11, 2021|Washington Post

Stripping the brooding, stripping the coolness away and playing somebody in a way kind of exposed, even though he’s so full of lies.
For Pedro Pascal, this is the way to play a villain when you’re also the coolest hero in the galaxy|David Betancourt|December 26, 2020|Washington Post
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
Brooding over such thoughts as these, Alessandro went up into the canon one morning.
Ramona|Helen Hunt Jackson
Reflection, introspection, brooding over mental and spiritual pain became impossible.
The Wave|Algernon Blackwood
The girl looked round the ragged moor, brooding in the twilight, and half hesitated.
Uncanny Tales|Various
But, fortunately, they had scant time for repining, and there is nothing like active occupation to banish useless brooding.
Dorothy at Skyrie|Evelyn Raymond
He continues his walk in moody silence, brooding over his sense of injustice.
Madame Roland, Makers of History|John S. C. Abbott