mope

[mohp]

See more synonyms for mope on Thesaurus.com

verb (used without object), moped, mop·ing.

to be sunk in dejection or listless apathy; sulk; brood.

verb (used with object), moped, mop·ing.

to make dejected, listless, or apathetic.

noun

a person who mopes or is given to moping.
mopes, depressed spirits; blues.

Origin of mope

First recorded in 1560–70; variant of mop²

Related formsmop·er, nounmop·ing·ly, adverb

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for moping

brood, sulk, chafe, despond, grumble, regret, grump, lament, repine, grieve, yearn, pine, moon, idle, despair, sink, ache, languish, bleed, fret

Examples from the Web for moping

Contemporary Examples of moping

Faced with a moping, stony-faced new partner, Beth did not selflessly set aside her own pain to help.
A Perfect 'Walking Dead' Episode
Melissa Leon
March 3, 2014

Historical Examples of moping

He was not moping—only weakly and even when looking a little sad, was quite happy.
Weighed and Wanting
George MacDonald
For one thing, there was plenty of hard work to keep my mind from moping.
In the Valley
Harold Frederic
I couldn't help him none, and he went away, moping and miserable.
Cape Cod Stories
Joseph C. Lincoln
It has been a glorious day and, if you had come in moping, I should have given you up as hopeless.
Through Three Campaigns
G. A. Henty
Edward had no time for moping discontent, for revenge, or anger.
The Nursery, August 1873, Vol. XIV. No. 2
Various

British Dictionary definitions for moping

mope

verb (intr)

to be gloomy or apatheticthere's no time to mope
to move or act in an aimless wayhe moped around the flat

noun

a gloomy person

Word Origin for mope

C16: perhaps from obsolete mope fool and related to mop ²

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

Word Origin and History for moping

mope

1560s, "to move and act unconsciously;" 1580s, "to be listless and apathetic," the sound of the word perhaps somehow suggestive of low feelings (cf. Low German mopen "to sulk," Dutch moppen "to grumble, to grouse," Danish maabe, dialectal Swedish mopa "to mope"). Related: Moped; moping; mopey; mopish.