Gloom

Pronunciation

• IPA: /glum/
• Rhymes: -uːm

Origin

From Middle English *gloom, *glom, from Old English glōm ("gloaming, twilight, darkness"), from Proto-Germanic *glōmaz ("gleam, shimmer, sheen"), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰel- ("to gleam, shimmer, glow"). Cognate with Norwegian glom ("transparent membrane").

Full definition of gloom

Noun

1. Darkness, dimness or obscurity.the gloom of a forest, or of midnight
• 1898, J. Meade Falkner, Moonfleet Chapter 4Here was a surprise, and a sad one for me, for I perceived that I had slept away a day, and that the sun was setting for another night. And yet it mattered little, for night or daytime there was no light to help me in this horrible place; and though my eyes had grown accustomed to the gloom, I could make out nothing to show me where to work.
2. A melancholy, depressing or despondent atmosphere.
3. Cloudiness or heaviness of mind; melancholy; aspect of sorrow; low spirits; dullness.
• BurkeA sullen gloom and furious disorder prevailed by fits.
4. A drying oven used in gunpowder manufacture.

Derived terms

• doom and gloom
• gloomily
• gloomleader (humorous)
• gloomy

Related terms

• gloam

Verb

1. (intransitive) To be dark or gloomy.
• GoldsmithThe black gibbet glooms beside the way.
• 1891, Mary Noailles Murfree, In the "Stranger People's" Country, Nebraska 2005, p. 189:Around all the dark forest gloomed.
2. (intransitive) to look or feel sad, sullen or despondent.
• D. H. LawrenceCiss was a big, dark-complexioned, pug-faced young woman who seemed to be glooming about something.
3. (transitive) To render gloomy or dark; to obscure; to darken.
• WalpoleA bow window ... gloomed with limes.
• TennysonA black yew gloomed the stagnant air.
4. (transitive) To fill with gloom; to make sad, dismal, or sullen.
• TennysonSuch a mood as that which lately gloomed your fancy.
• GoldsmithWhat sorrows gloomed that parting day.
5. To shine or appear obscurely or imperfectly; to glimmer.