gloomy
Americanadjective
-
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
Related Words
See dark ( def. ).
Other Word Forms
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
Beowulf vocabulary
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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.
Gloomy weather has helped drive up February half-term holiday bookings by 9% compared to last year, according to a group of travel agents.
From BBC • Feb. 12, 2026
Gloomy and vague, “Run Rabbit Run” is a moody, noncommittal tease replete with the usual spectral signifiers: clammy dreams, scary drawings, unsettling masks.
From New York Times • Jun. 28, 2023
Gloomy year-ahead forecasts from Wall Street banks have piled up in the past week, although a strong November jobs report released on Friday undercut the case for an imminent slowdown in the U.S. economy.
From Reuters • Dec. 2, 2022
Gloomy prognostications of a swift, post-pandemic boomerang of dogs and cats back to shelters do not appear to be bearing out.
From Seattle Times • Oct. 1, 2022
Gloomy tomb of a room—Theo will make a good writer someday, Chris thought.
From "The Westing Game" by Ellen Raskin
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.
