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glum

[ gluhm ]
/ glʌm /
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See synonyms for: glum / glumly / glumness on Thesaurus.com

adjective, glum·mer, glum·mest.
sullenly or silently gloomy; dejected.
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Origin of glum

1425–75; late Middle English; variant of gloom

synonym study for glum

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 WORDS FROM glum

glumly, adverbglumness, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use glum in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for glum

glum
/ (ɡlʌm) /

adjective glummer or glummest
silent or sullen, as from gloom

Derived forms of glum

glumly, adverbglumness, noun

Word Origin for glum

C16: variant of gloom
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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