Gloaming

Pronunciation

• RP IPA: /ˈɡləʊmɪŋ/
• US IPA: /ˈɡloÊŠmɪŋ/
• Rhymes: -əʊmɪŋ

Origin

Old English glōmung.

Full definition of gloaming

Noun

1. (poetry, Scotland, UK, North England) twilight, as at early morning or (especially) early evening; dusk
• 1898 — H. G. Wells, , Book 1, ch 6You may imagine the young people brushed up after the labours of the day, and making this novelty, as they would make any novelty, the excuse for walking together and enjoying a trivial flirtation. You may figure to yourself the hum of voices along the road in the gloaming...
• 2001 — David Lodge, Thinks...I clung to her nipples as she soared and swooped through the gloaming, scooping up insects, and I remember the shapes of things that she flew between, above, beneath.
2. (obsolete) sullenness; melancholy

Synonyms

• crepuscule, vespers, twilight, sundown, dusk, dawn

Antonyms

• diurnal, daytime, daylight, as well as nocturnal, nighttime, darkness

Related terms

• gloom