gloomy
Americanadjective
-
gloomier,
comparative
-
gloomiest
superlative
-
dark or dim; deeply shaded.
gloomy skies.
- Synonyms:
- threatening, lowering, dusky, shadowy, obscure
-
causing gloom; dismal or depressing.
a gloomy prospect.
-
filled with or showing gloom; sad, dejected, or melancholy.
- Synonyms:
- dispirited, glum, depressed, despondent, downhearted, downcast
- Antonyms:
- happy
-
hopeless or despairing; pessimistic.
a gloomy view of the future.
adjective
-
dark or dismal
-
causing depression, dejection, or gloom
gloomy news
-
despairing; sad
Synonym Usage
See dark ( def. ).
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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gloominessnoun
-
overgloominessnoun
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overgloomyadjective
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ungloomyadjective
-
gloomilyadverb
-
overgloomilyadverb
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ungloomilyadverb
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of gloomy
Explanation
Gloomy means "dark and dreary." A cloudy day, a sad song about lost love, your downbeat mood after your team loses a big game — all of these can be called gloomy. Have you ever been called a Gloomy Gus? If so, you must have been acting depressed or sulky. But you aren't the first to be called that — after all, Gloomy Gus was a comic book character who first appeared in 1904. By the 1940s, this nickname caught on, describing — and possibly adding to the misery — of those who are less happy-seeming than the people around them.
Vocabulary lists containing gloomy
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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.
See Examples For:
Despite the gloomy results, Warner’s stock climbed more than 1% in early Thursday trading to $26.25.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
Under gloomy skies, Lewandowski blazed a spot-kick over the bar as Fire's training session came to an end and Iraola's got under way.
From BBC ● Aug. 1, 2026
Against a gloomy backdrop for software sentiment, ServiceNow just topped revenue expectations.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 22, 2026
Outside of the gloomy team, though, there was still cause for Scottish celebration.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 25, 2026
Despite the sun’s warmth, I shivered in the house’s gloomy shadow.
From "The Old Willis Place" by Mary Downing Hahn
Consumers, though, have adopted a gloomier attitude, even as analysts note that they continue to spend despite the biggest price shocks seen since the pandemic.
From MarketWatch ● May 17, 2026
Although it is still early, several new signals suggest employers are boosting entry-level hiring this spring after much gloomier projections just months ago.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 20, 2026
The increase came as respondents' views of current business and job market conditions improved, though their outlooks for the future were gloomier.
From Barron's ● Mar. 31, 2026
What might look like bad news is that Tesla’s compilation of Wall Street’s estimates is gloomier than other readings—namely, an average delivery figure of 445,061 vehicles based on a Bloomberg compilation of analyst forecasts.
From Barron's ● Dec. 30, 2025
The inside of the church was even gloomier than the exterior.
From "Fablehaven" by Brandon Mull
Even the gloomiest prognosticator thinks a formal default is highly unlikely, and the idea that it might happen within six years is in the very outside realm of risk.
From MarketWatch ● May 15, 2026
“I’m the gloomiest I’ve been since 1979,” one economist told The Wall Street Journal at the time.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 14, 2026
Slap-bang in the middle of a month that is all about freezing drizzle and self-denial, the third Monday in January is notoriously the gloomiest day of the year.
From BBC ● Jan. 18, 2026
On a stormy, steamy summer day in 2003, as I approached the Gasometer Oberhausen, which the Third Reich used for fuel storage, I expected the enormous cylindrical structure would prove the gloomiest building in Germany.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 16, 2024
Her birthday is in November—the gloomiest month of the year—but that never stopped her from planning something fun.
From "I Can Make This Promise" by Christine Day
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.
