| English Dictionary |
GLOOMY (gloomier, gloomiest)
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
| IPA (US): |  |
, gloomiest Dictionary entry overview: What does gloomy mean?
• GLOOMY (adjective)
The adjective GLOOMY has 3 senses:
1. depressingly dark
2. filled with melancholy and despondency
3. causing dejection
Familiarity information: GLOOMY used as an adjective is uncommon.
Dictionary entry details
| Declension: comparative and superlative |
Superlative: gloomiest
Sense 1
Meaning:
Depressingly dark
Synonyms:
gloomful; glooming; gloomy; sulky
Context example:
'gloomful' is archaic
Similar:
dark (devoid of or deficient in light or brightness; shadowed or black)
Derivation:
gloom (a state of partial or total darkness)
gloominess (the quality of excessive mournfulness and uncheerfulness)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Filled with melancholy and despondency
Synonyms:
blue; depressed; dispirited; down; down in the mouth; downcast; downhearted; gloomy; grim; low; low-spirited
Context example:
feeling discouraged and downhearted
Similar:
dejected (affected or marked by low spirits)
Derivation:
gloominess (the quality of excessive mournfulness and uncheerfulness)
gloominess (a feeling of melancholy apprehension)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Causing dejection
Synonyms:
blue; dark; dingy; disconsolate; dismal; drab; drear; dreary; gloomy; grim; sorry
Context example:
grim rainy weather
Similar:
cheerless; depressing; uncheerful (causing sad feelings of gloom and inadequacy)
Context examples
She lived in that gloomy tenement, a place not fit for swine.
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
"That I will, Adele;" and I hastened away with her, glad to quit my gloomy monitress.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
They found the forest very thick on this side, and it looked dark and gloomy.
(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)
She did not raise her voice above her breath, or address us, but said this to the night sky; then stood profoundly quiet, looking at the gloomy water.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
A few minutes later she brought in three covers, and we all drew up to the table, Holmes ravenous, I curious, and Phelps in the gloomiest state of depression.
(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
A gloomy breakfast was eaten, and the four remaining dogs were harnessed to the sled.
(White Fang, by Jack London)
He appeared the same, physically, as when last I saw him, but he was gloomy and silent.
(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)
We emerged at last into a small road, lined with old, gloomy houses, which led us into Manchester Street, and so to Blandford Street.
(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Of all the gloomy features of that gloomy afternoon, this obvious anxiety on the part of Long John appeared the worst.
(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
And he sat down with a most gloomy countenance by Fanny.
(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)
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