GLOOM

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does gloom mean? 

• GLOOM (noun)
  The noun GLOOM has 3 senses:

1. a state of partial or total darkness

2. a feeling of melancholy apprehension

3. an atmosphere of depression and melancholy

  Familiarity information: GLOOM used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• GLOOM (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A state of partial or total darkness

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

gloom; somberness; sombreness

Context example:

he struck a match to dispel the gloom

Hypernyms ("gloom" is a kind of...):

semidarkness (partial darkness)

Derivation:

gloomy (depressingly dark)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A feeling of melancholy apprehension

Classified under:

Nouns denoting feelings and emotions

Synonyms:

gloom; gloominess; somberness; sombreness

Hypernyms ("gloom" is a kind of...):

apprehension; apprehensiveness; dread (fearful expectation or anticipation)

melancholy (a feeling of thoughtful sadness)

Sense 3

Meaning:

An atmosphere of depression and melancholy

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

gloom; gloominess; glumness

Context example:

gloom pervaded the office

Hypernyms ("gloom" is a kind of...):

ambiance; ambience; atmosphere (a particular environment or surrounding influence)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "gloom"):

cloud (a cause of worry or gloom or trouble)

bareness; bleakness; desolation; nakedness (a bleak and desolate atmosphere)

 Context examples 

The house was invisible from the road, but the surroundings all spoke of gloom and decay.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

High up above our heads, amid the dark shadows, there was one circle of deeper gloom.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

How can I—how could any one—tell of that strange scene, its solemnity, its gloom, its sadness, its horror; and, withal, its sweetness.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

His countenance instantly assumed an aspect of the deepest gloom, and he replied, “To seek one who fled from me.”

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

But there came a time when Laurie ceased to worship at many shrines, hinted darkly at one all-absorbing passion, and indulged occasionally in Byronic fits of gloom.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

I saw the man, too, in the gloom.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

What visitant from the gloom of the deep was I to behold?

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

The gloom of her first anticipations was proved to have been unfounded.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

It was THAT which threw this gloom,—even now the recollection of what I suffered—He could say no more, and rising hastily walked for a few minutes about the room.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

Amid the gloom of the oak trees something was coming towards us.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)