Synonyms: darkness, dark, shadow, cloud More Synonyms of gloom
2. uncountable noun [oft aNOUN]
Gloom is a feeling of sadness and lack of hope.
...the deepening gloom over the economy.
Synonyms: depression, despair, misery, sadness More Synonyms of gloom
gloom in British English
(ɡluːm)
noun
1.
partial or total darkness
2.
a state of depression or melancholy
3.
an appearance or expression of despondency or melancholy
4. poetic
a dim or dark place
verb
5. (intransitive)
to look sullen or depressed
6.
to make or become dark or gloomy
Derived forms
gloomful (ˈgloomful)
adjective
gloomfully (ˈgloomfully)
adverb
gloomless (ˈgloomless)
adjective
Word origin
C14 gloumben to look sullen; related to Norwegian dialect glome to eye suspiciously
gloom in American English
(glum)
verb intransitive
1.
to be or look morose, displeased, or dejected
2.
to be, become, or appear dark, dim, or dismal
verb transitive
3.
to make dark, dismal, dejected, etc.
noun
4.
darkness; dimness; obscurity
5.
a dark or dim place
6.
deep sadness or hopelessness
Word origin
< 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
Examples of 'gloom' in a sentence
gloom
So why all the doom and gloom?
The Sun (2016)
So much speculation on doom and gloom.
The Sun (2016)
Since then a series of awkward draws and dodgy defeats has led to doom and gloom.
The Sun (2017)
It is not all doom and gloom.
The Sun (2016)
Before the referendum he ignored impartiality to spread gloom about Brexit.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Instead of doom and gloom, we need to look at it as an opportunity to turn the season around.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
CONSUMER gloom about inflation is deepening, according to a report.
The Sun (2016)
Musicals don't ask us to ignore the gloom, doom and dangers of life.
Times, Sunday Times (2017)
It's not all doom and gloom, though.
Times, Sunday Times (2017)
Despite the tinsel, things are all doom and gloom over at the Platts.
The Sun (2016)
The figures follow months of doom and gloom about pub closures.
The Sun (2009)
She stood up and ran into the dense gloom of the surrounding trees.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
Britain is emerging from economic gloom but some people are emerging faster than others.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
Yet it is not all doom and gloom.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
Much of that is explained by gloom over the economy.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
Is the overwhelming gloom about the banks justified?
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
February payrolls report has clearly added to the gloom surrounding the economic outlook.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
But doom and gloom is only part of the story.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
In these dark days of gloom one would think they had timed the announcement to cheer up the nation.
The Sun (2010)
It was not all gloom yesterday.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
Is the gloom about to lift?
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
What visitors fed on the tabloid media diet of gloom and despondency might find surprising are the smiles and laughter they will encounter.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
Other positives were not easy to find in the autumn gloom, until yesterday.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
The unexpectedly low increase in unemployment has been one of the few reasons to be cheerful amid the economic gloom of the past three years.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
She felt as if all her morning 's gloom would vanish if she could see her husband glad because of her presence.
George Eliot Middlemarch (1872)
Practice periods that end in gloom and despondency must be avoided - they have the opposite effect of reinforcing or "conditioning" helplessness.
Evans, Andrew The Secrets of Musical Confidence (1994)
What brings a lump to my throat is finding that the grubby'70s light fittings are still casting a yellow gloom over the morning assembly.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
IF all of a sudden this morning you find your world plunged into darkness and gloom, do not fear.
The Sun (2015)
You may say we have become used to gloom from Britain's factories over the years.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
He said: 'There was a lot of disappointment and doom and gloom about the place.
The Sun (2010)
The period costumes are exquisite too, with gorgeous colour and playfulness seeping in, defying the gloom.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
Surely it is near, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness.
Christianity Today (2000)
And in the midst of the unending gloom in the economy, Britons increasingly are turning back to childhood pleasures.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
They have been able to defy the economic gloom, aided by the internet and no small amount of blood, sweat and tears.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
In other languages
gloom
British English: gloom NOUN
The gloom is a state of near darkness.
...the gloom of a foggy November morning.
American English: gloom
Brazilian Portuguese: escuridão
Chinese: 昏暗
European Spanish: penumbra
French: morosité
German: Düsterkeit
Italian: oscurità
Japanese: うす暗さ
Korean: 어두침침함
European Portuguese: escuridão
Latin American Spanish: penumbra
Chinese translation of 'gloom'
gloom
(ɡluːm)
n
(= dark)
the gloom黑暗 (hēi'àn)
(u) (= sadness) 忧(憂)郁(鬱) (yōuyù)
economic gloom经(經)济(濟)萧条(條) (jīngjì xiāotiáo)
1 (noun)
Definition
partial or total darkness
the gloom of a foggy November morning
Synonyms
darkness
The room was plunged into darkness.
dark
I've always been afraid of the dark.
shadow
Most of the lake was in shadow.
cloud
The sun was almost entirely obscured by cloud.
shade
twilight
the deepening autumn twilight
dusk (poetic)
She turned and disappeared into the dusk.
obscurity
the vast branches vanished into deep indigo obscurity above my head
blackness
The twilight had turned to a deep blackness.
dullness
the dullness of an old painting
murk
dimness
murkiness
cloudiness
gloominess
duskiness
Opposites
light
,
daylight
,
radiance
2 (noun)
Definition
depression or melancholy
the deepening gloom over the economy
Synonyms
depression
I slid into a depression and found it hard to go to work.
despair
She shook her head in despair at the futility of it all.
misery
All that money brought nothing but misery.
sadness
It is with a mixture of sadness and joy that I say farewell.
sorrow
It was a time of great sorrow.
blues
woe
He listened to my tale of woe.
melancholy
We watched the process with an air of melancholy.
unhappiness
There was a lot of unhappiness in my adolescence.
desolation
He expresses his sense of desolation without self-pity.
despondency
There's a mood of gloom and despondency in the country.
dejection
There was a slight air of dejection about her.
low spirits
downheartedness
Opposites
delight
,
joy
,
happiness
,
brightness
,
high spirits
,
mirth
,
cheerfulness
,
jollity
Additional synonyms
in the sense of blackness
The twilight had turned to a deep blackness.
Synonyms
darkness,
dark,
shade,
gloom,
dusk (poetic),
obscurity,
nightfall,
murk,
dimness,
murkiness,
duskiness,
shadiness,
melanism (technical term),
inkiness,
nigrescence (rare),
nigritude (rare)
in the sense of cloud
Definition
a mass of water or ice particles visible in the sky