gloom Hear it!

gloom Definition

gloom (glo̵̅o̅m)

intransitive verb

  1. to be or look morose, displeased, or dejected
  2. to be, become, or appear dark, dim, or dismal

Etymology: < ME gloum(b)en, to look morose, prob. < Scand, as in Norw dial. glome, to stare somberly, akin to EFris glumen, to peer secretly (< IE *ĝhlu- < base *ghêl- > gleam, glow): meaning infl. by OE glom, twilight

transitive verb

to make dark, dismal, dejected, etc.

noun

  1. darkness; dimness; obscurity
  2. a dark or dim place
  3. deep sadness or hopelessness

gloom Synonyms

gloom

n.

  1. Heavy shade

    shadow, murk, dimness, dark; see darkness 1.

  2. Heavy spirits

    woe, sadness, depression, dejection, melancholy, melancholia, dullness, despondency, misery, sorrow, morbidity, pensiveness, hypochondriasis, catatonia, dolor, malaise, vexation, pessimism, foreboding, low spirits, cheerlessness, heaviness of mind, weariness, apprehension, misgiving, distress, affliction, despair, oppression, anguish, grief, horror, mourning, bitterness, mortification, chagrin, discouragement, disconsolateness, the blues*, the dumps*, the doldrums*, blue funk*.

    Antonyms happiness*, optimism, gaiety.

gloom Usage Examples

Preposition: of

  • winter: After all the doom and gloom of the winter, once more my thoughts are turning to spring.
  • night: In the gloom of night, our minds lose all restraint.

Converse of object

  • pierce: Scimitar sharp they pierce the gloom, shadowy long fingers of doom.
  • lighten: To lighten this gloom, two bright new stars appeared on the horizon.
  • dispel: We were probably all going to die anyway but Diana could dispel the gloom with just a smile, couldn't she?
  • encircle: Is the bar a place of conviviality or does it merely heighten, rather than lighten, the encircling gloom of the street outside?
  • deepen: OUT of the deepening gloom, a dazzling light appeared.
  • lift: Anyway, Together is back to lift the sporting gloom here in London town.

Adjective modifier

  • Stygian: Despite an early optimistic weather forecast from Brian Partridge, the steady drizzle added to the Stygian gloom.
  • murky: Six months of murky muddy gloom every winter is a bit hard to deal with.
  • deep: By Saturday Kate was plunged into a deep gloom.
  • gray: From this gray gloom there must be a beacon to follow.
  • economic: Despite the general economic gloom there are still sectors which are desperate for UK services.
  • dark: Quite hard to find, especially in the dark misty gloom of a Winter's evening.

Modifies a noun

  • merchant: More recently, gloom merchants have pointed to the introduction of the euro.
  • scenario: Anxious people tend to misuse their imagination to conjure up all sorts of doom and gloom scenarios.

Noun used with modifier

  • gathering: Now the trees stand forlorn in the gathering gloom.
  • winter: The team will be on hand to provide some pre summer fun and help customers to escape the winter gloom.
  • evening: By loose feeding with maggots Josh caught several more roach before the light faded and the float vanished into the evening gloom.
  • morning: Up Back Street, anyway, and the morning gloom closing in again as he left the artificial lights.
gloom Quotes

Lead, kindly Light, amid the encircling gloom, Lead thou me on; The night is dark, and I am far from home, Lead thou me on. Keep Thou my feet; I do not ask to see The distant scene; one step enough for me.

—Newman,John Henry

Lovelyare the curves of the white owl sweeping Wavy in the dusk lit by one large star. Lone on the fir-branch, his rattle-note unvaried, Brooding o'er the gloom, spins the brown eve-jar.

—Meredith, George

Mirth is short and transient, cheerfulness fixed and permanent† Mirth is like a flash of lightning that breaks through a gloom of clouds, and glitters for a moment: cheerfulness keeps up a kind of day-light in the mind, and fills it with a steady and perpetual serenity.

—Addison,Joseph

I know not how it wasöbut, with the first glimpse of the building, a sense of insufferable gloom pervaded my spirit† There was aniciness, a sinking, a sickening of the heartöan unredeemed dreariness of thought which no goading of the imagination could torture into aught of the sublime.

—Poe, EdgarAllan

They have spoken lightly of my deathless friends, (Lamps for my gloom, handsguiding where I stumble,) Quoting, for shallow conversational ends, What Shelley shrilled, what Blake once wildly muttered† How can they use such names and be not humble?

—Sassoon, Siegfried Louvain

Where glowing embers through the room Teach light to counterfeit a gloom, Far from all resort of mirth. Save the cricket on the hearth.

—Milton,John

'Tis midnight, falls the lamp-light dull and sickly On a pale and anxious crowd, Through the court, and round the judges thronging thickly, With prayers they dare not speak aloudö Two youths, two noble youths, stand prisoners at the barö You can see them through the gloomö In the pride of life and manhood's beauty, there they are Awaiting their death-doom.

—Wilde,Jane Francesca ne¤  e Elgee

Browse dictionary entries near gloom

  1. ‹ glonoin
  2. ‹ Glomma
  3. ‹ glomerulus
  4. ‹ glomerulonephritis
  5. ‹ glomerule
  6. ‹ glomerulate
  7. ‹ glomeration
  8. ‹ glomerate
  9. ‹ glom
  10. ‹ glockenspiel
  1. gloomy ›
  2. glop ›
  3. Gloria ›
  4. Gloria in excelsis Deo ›
  5. Gloria Patri ›
  6. glorify ›
  7. gloriole ›
  8. glorious ›
  9. glory ›
  10. gloss ›