gloom
Americannoun
-
total or partial darkness; dimness.
- Antonyms:
- brightness
-
a state of melancholy or depression; low spirits.
- Synonyms:
- sadness, despondency, dejection
- Antonyms:
- cheerful
-
a despondent or depressed look or expression.
verb (used without object)
-
to appear or become dark, dim, or somber.
-
to look sad, dismal, or dejected; frown.
verb (used with object)
-
to fill with gloom; make gloomy or sad; sadden.
-
to make dark or somber.
noun
-
partial or total darkness
-
a state of depression or melancholy
-
an appearance or expression of despondency or melancholy
-
poetic a dim or dark place
verb
-
(intr) to look sullen or depressed
-
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
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
No, the picture is not entirely doom and gloom — the push for renewable energy is breaking all kinds of records, too, reaching roughly 50% of global energy capacity last year.
From Salon • Apr. 4, 2026
Under the best-in-class floodlights at Tottenham, the finale of Saracens v Northampton played out in HD technicolour compared to the relative gloom of Kingston Park and Exeter's win over Newcastle Red Bulls.
From BBC • Mar. 30, 2026
Through all of this, the film remains focused on human experience, rendered with something approaching optimism despite the radioactive gloom that surrounds it.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 26, 2026
For now, though, the weakness in bank stocks looks more like a temporary dislocation for some of the big banks and not a harbinger of economic doom and gloom.
From Barron's • Mar. 18, 2026
All of this doom and gloom was just making things worse.
From "The Unseen Guest" by Maryrose Wood
Definitions 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.
