gloom

American  

[gloom] / glum /

noun

1. total or partial darkness; dimness.

   Synonyms:

   obscurity, shade, shadow

   Antonyms:

   brightness

2. a state of melancholy or depression; low spirits.

   Synonyms:

   sadness, despondency, dejection

   Antonyms:

   cheerful

3. a despondent or depressed look or expression.

---

verb (used without object)

1. to appear or become dark, dim, or somber.

2. to look sad, dismal, or dejected; frown.

verb (used with object)

1. to fill with gloom; make gloomy or sad; sadden.

2. to make dark or somber.

gloom British  

/ ɡluːm /

noun

1. partial or total darkness

2. a state of depression or melancholy

3. an appearance or expression of despondency or melancholy

4. poetic a dim or dark place

---

verb

1. (intr) to look sullen or depressed

2. to make or become dark or gloomy

Other Word Forms

• gloomful adjective
• gloomfully adverb
• gloomless adjective
• outgloom verb (used with object)
• undergloom noun
• ungloom verb (used with object)

Etymology

Origin of gloom

1300–50; Middle English gloumben, glomen to frown, perhaps representing Old English *glūmian (akin to early German gläumen to make turbid); glum

Example Sentences

Dimly, Jonah realized that she may have been trying to aggravate him, to jolt him out of his gloom.

From Literature

Do these problems bode perpetual doom and gloom for Africa?

From The Wall Street Journal

But some good news as the city of Aberdeen saw its first ray of sunshine on Thursday after three weeks of gloom.

From BBC

For all of our gloom about the future, it appears we aren’t giving up.

From Salon

But only a short walk away, at the world’s most storied opera house, all that fanfare fades into Wagnerian gloom.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• anguish
• bitterness
• despair
• discouragement
• doldrums
• foreboding
• grief
• horror
• malaise
• misery
• pessimism
• sadness
• sorrow
• weariness
• woe