mope
Americanverb (used without object)
-
mopes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
moped,
past participle, past
-
moping
present participle
verb (used with object)
-
mopes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
moped,
past participle, past
-
moping
present participle
noun
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a person who mopes or is given to moping.
-
mopes, depressed spirits; blues.
verb
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to be gloomy or apathetic
there's no time to mope
-
to move or act in an aimless way
he moped around the flat
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
mopesimple
-
mopessimple
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have mopedperfect
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has mopedperfect
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am mopingprogressive
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are mopingprogressive
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is mopingprogressive
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have been mopingperfect progressive
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has been mopingperfect progressive
Past
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mopedsimple
-
had mopedperfect
-
was mopingprogressive
-
were mopingprogressive
-
had been mopingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of mope
First recorded in 1560–70; variant of mop 2
Explanation
When you're bummed out, I bet you sometimes mope. Moping is something people do when they're feeling gloomy and doomy and sad. Moping never solved a problem, but we all do it when things aren't going our way. A moping person is usually frowning, slouched over, quiet, and maybe even lying down. We mope when we're sad, but part of moping is directed at other people, because moping is at least a little public. When someone says you're "moping around," they can tell you're trying to let everyone know how sad you are. To mope is to say "Hey! Somebody cheer me up!"
Vocabulary lists containing mope
"The Mixer," Vocabulary from the short story
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"The Open Window"
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"Sisters" by Raina Telgemeier
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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:
Women who weep are seen as "too emotional" while men who mope can be shamed for being soft and vulnerable, she says.
From BBC ● Jul. 4, 2025
He’s since apologized, saying, “I do town halls all around the world, and as you know, I mope sometimes.”
From Salon ● Apr. 30, 2025
Fortunately, Sennott is entertaining even as a mope.
From New York Times ● Jun. 7, 2024
On its surface level, however, “I Saw the TV Glow” is just about a mope.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 2, 2024
“You’re not going to mope around the kitchen without being put to work. See those kidneys on the counter? Cook them up for the cats.”
From "October Sky" by Homer Hickam
He usually follows me around the house, and he mopes when I’m gone.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 27, 2022
“Maddie doesn’t listen to me,” she complains, then mopes.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 16, 2021
While David mopes around, wallowing in his angst, Georgia is a model of multitasking, caring for the kids, finishing a novel and, at one point, helping a friend give birth.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 29, 2020
It seems cruel to send her off to live her final years with my in-laws because she gets sad and mopes when we’re not around.
From Slate ● Jan. 24, 2020
He complains he’s getting out of shape, but then just mopes around the house and watches Star Wars for the bazillionth time.
From "P.S. I Miss You" by Jen Petro-Roy
A ballroom dancer who coddles his pet rats—Fred and Ginger—Declan rides a moped that his colleague, Sara Xiu, describes as “that pitiful hair-dryer on wheels.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
Law enforcement officials also point out that any type of modification to e-bikes might not just be dangerous, but can also transform the e-bike into a motorcycle or moped under California law.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 10, 2026
The court heard how Teeton was was walking back from his barracks at 17:50 BST when Esan asked him if he could use his phone because his moped had broken down.
From BBC ● Feb. 9, 2026
Pulling up his laptop, Dallas shows off the art for a single: On a majestic winding Italian road, ian perches pensively on a white moped, in an all-white yacht outfit, barefoot.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 26, 2025
I didn’t hear the answer, on account of the moped starting up.
From "The Season of Styx Malone" by Kekla Magoon
He doesn’t respond to his various wake-up calls with stubborn defiance but a curiosity that shifts his moping into something akin to a geeky, fun-loving second adolescence.
From Salon ● Apr. 5, 2026
Instead of moping over the setback, Ohtani has started eyeing his next boundary-pushing maneuver: To be a leadoff hitter and high-leverage reliever in the same game.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 29, 2025
As macho as the protagonist of a Lifetime movie, moping like an adolescent and watching too much TV, Mr. White’s Springsteen is clearly depressed, but Mr. Cooper’s script doesn’t provide much illumination.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2025
"We have always tried to focus on what they can do and not waste time moping about what they can't do."
From BBC ● May 31, 2023
Still, moping around wasn’t going to get Percy and Annabeth back.
From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan
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.
