brooding

[broo-ding]

adjective

1. preoccupied with depressing, morbid, or painful memories or thoughts.

   a brooding frame of mind.

2. cast in subdued light so as to convey a somewhat threatening atmosphere.

   Dusk fell on the brooding hills.

Other Word Forms

• broodingly adverb
• nonbrooding adjective
• unbrooding adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of brooding¹

First recorded in 1810–20 brooding for def. 1; 1640–50 brooding for def. 2; brood + -ing ²

Example Sentences

The result was a steady shift in the music-rich island from joyous ska and soulful rock-steady to reggae, a more brooding genre that addressed social and personal issues.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Miss Mortimer could not stop marveling at their navigational skills—“Who knew the sky even had a scent?” she exclaimed—but Penelope was still brooding about the poultice.

Read more on Literature

Mr. Christopher is terrific as the brooding Anatoly, who after defecting sings the first-act curtain number, “Anthem,” with both plush vocalism and fiery emotion.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Darbyshire's vocals gave the group a soulful edge, particularly on the brooding ballad Room In Your Heart.

Read more on BBC

Wildflowers flashed like fireflies in the brooding jungle of “Floral Entrapment II,” which artist Ema Ri made by applying paint with their hands and nails.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• dignified 
• earnest 
• funereal 
• glum 
• intense 
• pensive 
• portentous 
• reflective 
• sedate 
• sober 
• somber 
• stern 
• thoughtful 
• weighty