gloom

1 of 2

verb

ˈglüm

gloomed; glooming; glooms

intransitive verb

: to look, feel, or act sullen or despondent

: to be or become overcast

: to loom up dimly

transitive verb

: to make dark, murky, or somber : make gloomy

gloom

2 of 2

noun

: partial or total darkness

: a dark or shadowy place

: lowness of spirits : dejection

: an atmosphere of despondency

a gloom fell over the household

Example Sentences

Verb we just sat there, glooming, as we waited and waited for our dinners to arrive he continued to gloom over the fact that he had been passed over for promotion to district manager Noun The painting captures the gloom of a foggy night. He walked away, disappearing into the gloom. the gloom of the forest He was often subject to periods of gloom. A cloud of gloom has descended over the city. See More

Recent Examples on the Web

Verb

But, there is still gloom ahead for economies in the region.

Emiko Jozuka, CNN, 5 Oct. 2022 Our imperviousness to gloom is our own peculiar virtue.

Murr Brewster, The Christian Science Monitor, 7 Mar. 2022 Their allusion to the night refers not to gloom but to evening intimacies, the pianist and scholar Kenneth Hamilton said in an interview.

New York Times, 13 Aug. 2021 The more doom and gloom the policy makers incorporate into their scenarios before setting market prices and rules, the safer the grid can be.

Jinjoo Lee, WSJ, 26 Feb. 2021

Noun

Ryan Watts tried shaking off the feelings of gloom for as long as possible.

Nick Moyle, San Antonio Express-News, 8 Nov. 2022 Yet gazillions of dollars are shoveled toward green goodies to placate the goblins of global gloom.

Andy Kessler, WSJ, 18 Sep. 2022 After months of gloom, Americans are finally starting to feel better about the economy and more resigned to inflation.

Abha Bhattarai, Anchorage Daily News, 11 Sep. 2022 After months of gloom, Americans are finally starting to feel better about the economy and more resigned to inflation.

Abha Bhattarai, Washington Post, 10 Sep. 2022 Discord is high across the land, and readers say that visiting our platforms should not be all doom and gloom.

cleveland, 5 Nov. 2022 Perhaps all the doom and gloom helps explain another kind of escapism, nostalgia, which recently took off at McDonald’s, of all places.

Steve Mollman, Fortune, 5 Nov. 2022 And yet, Aftershock transcends mere doom and gloom territory.

Graham Averill, Outside Online, 24 Oct. 2022 The title of Brian Eno’s new album ForeverAndEverNoMore sounds fairly doom and gloom.

WIRED, 14 Oct. 2022 See More

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'gloom.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.