Dictionary
Thesaurus
Reference
Translate
Web
Related Searches
on Ask.com
Synonyms
Nearby Entries
Gloom - 7 dictionary results

gloom

  [gloom]
Use Gloom in a Sentence
–noun
1. total or partial darkness; dimness.
2. a state of melancholy or depression; low spirits.
3. a despondent or depressed look or expression.
–verb (used without object)
4. to appear or become dark, dim, or somber.
5. to look sad, dismal, or dejected; frown.
–verb (used with object)
6. to fill with gloom; make gloomy or sad; sadden.
7. to make dark or somber.
Origin:
1300–50; ME gloumben, glomen to frown, perh. repr. OE *glūmian (akin to early G gläumen to make turbid); see glum

Related forms:
gloomful, adjective
gloom⋅ful⋅ly, adverb
gloomless, adjective

Synonyms:
1. shadow, shade, obscurity. 2. dejection, despondency, sadness.

Antonyms:
1. brightness. 2. cheerfulness.

glooms

  [gloomz]
–plural noun
the blues; melancholy (usually prec. by the).
Origin:
1735–45; see gloom, -s 3
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To Gloom
gloom   (glōōm)   
n.  
    1. Partial or total darkness; dimness: switched on a table lamp to banish the gloom of a winter afternoon.
    2. A partially or totally dark place, area, or location.
    3. An atmosphere of melancholy or depression: Gloom pervaded the office.
    4. A state of melancholy or depression; despondency.
    1. An atmosphere of melancholy or depression: Gloom pervaded the office.
    2. A state of melancholy or depression; despondency.
v.   gloomed, gloom·ing, glooms

v.   intr.
  1. To be or become dark, shaded, or obscure.
  2. To feel, appear, or act despondent, sad, or mournful.
v.   tr.
  1. To make dark, shaded, or obscure.
  2. Archaic To make despondent; sadden.

[Probably from Middle English gloumen, to become dark, look glum.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source

Gloom

Gloom\ (gl[=oo]m), n. [AS. gl[=o]m twilight, from the root of E. glow. See Glow, and cf. Glum, Gloam.]

1. Partial or total darkness; thick shade; obscurity; as, the gloom of a forest, or of midnight.

2. A shady, gloomy, or dark place or grove.

Before a gloom of stubborn-shafted oaks. --Tennyson .

3. Cloudiness or heaviness of mind; melancholy; aspect of sorrow; low spirits; dullness.

A sullen gloom and furious disorder prevailed by fits. --Burke.

4. In gunpowder manufacture, the drying oven.

Syn: Darkness; dimness; obscurity; heaviness; dullness; depression; melancholy; dejection; sadness. See Darkness.

Gloom

Gloom\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Gloomed; p. pr. & vb. n. Glooming.]

1. To shine or appear obscurely or imperfectly; to glimmer.

2. To become dark or dim; to be or appear dismal, gloomy, or sad; to come to the evening twilight.

The black gibbet glooms beside the way. --Goldsmith.

[This weary day] . . . at last I see it gloom. --Spenser.

Gloom

Gloom\, v. t. 1. To render gloomy or dark; to obscure; to darken.

A bow window . . . gloomed with limes. --Walpole.

A black yew gloomed the stagnant air. --Tennyson.

2. To fill with gloom; to make sad, dismal, or sullen.

Such a mood as that which lately gloomed Your fancy. --Tennison.

What sorrows gloomed that parting day. --Goldsmith.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
Cite This Source
Language Translation for : Gloom
Spanish: penumbra,
German: die Dunkelheit,
Japanese: 薄暗がり
More Translations »

gloom 
c.1300 as a verb, "to look sullen or displeased," perhaps from Scand. (cf. Norw. dial. glome "to stare somberly"); the noun is 1596 in Scottish, "sullen look," from the verb. Sense of "darkness, obscurity" is first recorded 1629 in Milton's poetry; that of "melancholy" is 1744 (gloomy in this sense is attested from 1590). Gloomy Gus used in a general sense of "sullen person" since 1940s, from a comic strip character of that name first recorded 1904.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Search another word or see Gloom on Thesaurus | Reference