morosely
Americanadverb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of morosely
Explanation
When you do something morosely, you do it in a sullen, moody way. When you sit on the couch, sighing and looking sad because you didn't get invited to your friend's party, you are sitting there morosely. Morose means gloomy or in a bad mood, so whenever the adverb morosely describes your actions, you're not feeling very cheerful. There is an element of crankiness in the word morosely, which you can even see it its Latin root, morosus, which means "peevish." So when you do something morosely, you're not just sad, but you're making sure everyone knows how you're feeling.
Vocabulary lists containing morosely
Of Mice and Men
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The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
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The Miracle Worker
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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.
Sal stews morosely amid bursts of threatening belligerence that Sonny tries to tamp down.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 31, 2026
Sitting morosely in the midst of the destruction, one of his relatives, Dima Saraya, 41, recounted what she described as a living nightmare that left her a widow.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 26, 2025
Still, throughout the series, one of the recurring visual motifs for this character has been water: Kendall sinking morosely into a bathtub; Kendall falling face down into a pool; and so on.
From New York Times ● Apr. 30, 2023
At a briefing in the Tri-Cities, doctors were reduced to morosely begging their community to get vaccinated — to no apparent avail.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 31, 2021
“It would be poor timing if so,” she thought morosely, “for I can hardly make a speech about my successful career as a governess if I have just been fired in disgrace.”
From "The Interrupted Tale" by Maryrose Wood
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
