mope

[ mohp ]
See synonyms for: mopemopedmopesmoping on Thesaurus.com

verb (used without object),moped, mop·ing.
  1. to be sunk in dejection or listless apathy; sulk; brood.

verb (used with object),moped, mop·ing.
  1. to make dejected, listless, or apathetic.

noun
  1. a person who mopes or is given to moping.

  2. mopes, depressed spirits; blues.

Origin of mope

1
First recorded in 1560–70; variant of mop2

Other words from mope

  • moper, noun
  • mop·ing·ly, adverb

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use mope in a sentence

  • Faced with a moping, stony-faced new partner, Beth did not selflessly set aside her own pain to help.

  • Think Grey's Anatomy with less moping and more ass-kicking.

    Action Heroes in Heels | Shannon Donnelly | August 23, 2010 | THE DAILY BEAST
  • Myself, when I begun my carear among the fair six, I was always sighing and moping, like this poar Frenchman.

    Memoirs of Mr. Charles J. Yellowplush | William Makepeace Thackeray
  • Minetta suspected her of moping for John Willie, and told her that he often disappeared for days at a time like that.

    Mushroom Town | Oliver Onions
  • He would otherwise have been sure to make several horrible songs about her experiences with the moping Elvira.

    Maezli | Johanna Spyri
  • He went back to the hotel buoyed up in spite of himself, and found Alan moping in the reading-room.

    Katharine Frensham | Beatrice Harraden
  • They spent the day moping and fretting, because they no longer had fine clothes to wear, and could not go to fine parties.

British Dictionary definitions for mope

mope

/ (məʊp) /


verb(intr)
  1. to be gloomy or apathetic: there's no time to mope

  2. to move or act in an aimless way: he moped around the flat

noun
  1. a gloomy person

Origin of mope

1
C16: perhaps from obsolete mope fool and related to mop ²

Derived forms of mope

  • moper, noun
  • mopy, adjective

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012