gloom
English · Thesaurus
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gloom
- /ɡluːm/ UK
- /ɡlum/ US
Rhymes with -uːm
Where it comes from
From Middle English *gloom, *glom, from Old English glōm (“gloaming, twilight, darkness”), from Proto-West Germanic *glōm, from Proto-Germanic *glōmaz (“gleam, shimmer, sheen”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰley- (“to gleam, shimmer, glow”). The English word is cognate with Norwegian glom (“transparent membrane”), Scots gloam (“twilight; faint light; dull gleam”).
noun glooms
- Darkness, dimness, or obscurity. the gloom of a forest, or of midnight
-
A depressing, despondent, or melancholic atmosphere.
A sudden little river crossed my path / As unexpected as a serpent comes. / No sluggish tide congenial to the glooms— / This, as it frothed by, might have been a bath / For the fiend's glowing hoof—to see the wrath / Of its black eddy bespate with flakes and spumes.
Similar: An atmosphere of gloom descended on the assembled crowd.
- Cloudiness or heaviness of mind; melancholy; aspect of sorrow; low spirits; dullness. A sullen gloom and furious disorder prevailed by fits.
- A drying oven used in gunpowder manufacture.
verb glooms · glooming · gloomed
- To be dark or gloomy. Here, while the proud their long drawn pomps diſplay, / There the black gibbet glooms beſide the way.
-
To look or feel sad, sullen or despondent.
Her face gathers, furrows, glooms; arching eyebrows wrinkle into horizontals, and a tinge of bitterness unsmooths the cheek and robs the lip of sweetened grace. She is evidently perturbed.
Similar: grieve, mourn, aggrieve, besorrow, condole, darken, engrieve, erme, gloom, grieven, bleed, lament
- To render gloomy or dark; to obscure; to darken. A black yew gloom'd the stagnant air.
- To fill with gloom; to make sad, dismal, or sullen. For see you not, dear love, / Such a mood as that, which lately gloom'd / Your fancy when you saw me following you, / Must make me fear still more you are not mine, […]
- To shine or appear obscurely or imperfectly; to glimmer.
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: sombreness, gloominess, somberness, glumness, sombre, obscurity, darkness, murk, drear, blues, misery, sadness, despair, sad, hopelessness, sorrow
Translations
Every language
noun darkness, dimness, or obscurity
| Español | penumbra |
|---|---|
| Português | trevas, escuridão, escuro |
| Français | obscurité, pénombre, grisaille |
| Deutsch | Düsternis, Dunkelheit |
| Italiano | oscurità, tenebre, buio |
| Ελληνικά | σκότος skótos, ζόφος zófos, σκοτεινιά skoteiniá |
| Română | întunecare |
| Русский | тьма tʹma, мрак mrak, темнота́ temnotá, мгла mgla |
| עברית | חשך khóshekh |
noun depressing, despondent, or melancholy atmosphere
| Español | tristeza |
|---|---|
| Português | trevas, melancolia, tristeza |
| Français | morosité, noirceur, sombreur |
| Deutsch | Trübnis |
| Italiano | depressione, tristezza |
| Ελληνικά | μελαγχολία melancholía |
| Română | melancolie |
| Русский | уны́ние unýnije |
| עברית | דיכאון dikaón |
noun cloudiness or heaviness of mind; melancholy; aspect of sorrow; low spirits; dullness
| Español | melancolía |
|---|---|
| Français | morosité |
| Deutsch | Schwermut, Melancholie, Niedergeschlagenheit |
| Ελληνικά | μελαγχολία melancholía, κατήφεια katífeia, αποθάρρυνση apothárrynsi |
Talk about this word "gloom." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/gloom. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. gloom. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/gloom "gloom." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/gloom.Cite this
@misc{gloom_2026,
title = {gloom},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/gloom},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
