glum
Americanadjective
adjective
Related Words
Glum, morose, sullen, dour, surly all are adjectives describing a gloomy, unsociable attitude. Glum describes a depressed, spiritless condition or manner, usually temporary rather than habitual: a glum shrug of the shoulders; a glum, hopeless look in his eye. Morose, which adds to glum a sense of bitterness, implies a habitual and pervasive gloominess: a sour, morose manner; morose withdrawal from human contact. Sullen usually implies reluctance or refusal to speak accompanied by glowering looks expressing anger or a sense of injury: a sullen manner, silence, look. Dour refers to a stern and forbidding aspect, stony and unresponsive: dour rejection of friendly overtures. Surly implies gruffness of speech and manner, usually accompanied by an air of injury and ill temper: a surly reply.
Other Word Forms
- glumly adverb
- glumness noun
Etymology
Origin of glum
1425–75; late Middle English; variant of gloom
Explanation
To be glum is to be sad. Glum is a word for being depressed, bummed out, or down in the dumps. People who are glum are sometimes said to be sullen, brooding, morose, and moody. Glum folks don't smile, giggle, or laugh — and they're rarely seen holding balloons. Being glum is a little more outward-directed than just being sad. To be glum is to act sad in front of other people, almost like you want them to ask, "Why so glum?"
Vocabulary lists containing glum
Bud, Not Buddy
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List 8
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Even More Negative Words to Describe a Person
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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.
Don’t expect us to remain upset or all feel glum at the same time.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 1, 2026
As April 12 elections near, Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz party contends with glum voters and economic woes.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 23, 2026
And when I toured the Los Alamos lab right after the collapse of the other great superpower of that moment, the Soviet Union, it was curious how glum the people I met there were.
From Salon • Dec. 7, 2025
The first captivates via a young man’s earnest effusiveness; the second’s effusiveness, tainted by lovelorn glum, deepens.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 25, 2025
She looked glum after that, and I felt sorry that I’d crushed her hopes.
From "Made You Up" by Francesca Zappia
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.
