Definition of gloomy in English:

adjectivegloomier, gloomiest

• 1Dark or poorly lit, especially so as to appear depressing or frightening.

  ‘a gloomy corridor badly lit by oil lamps’

  More example sentences

  • ‘The limo windows were tinted, making it appear dark and gloomy outside.’
  • ‘She thought of Mae to grant her some more confidence, as she approached the last door in the dark and gloomy corridor.’
  • ‘The supernatural thriller takes place in the gloomy, dark dismal backwoods outside New Orleans.’
  • ‘The room didn't appear gloomy or depressing, but it still had this certain aura of darkness wrapped around it.’
  • ‘For instance when its dark and gloomy you miss the sunshine so it depresses you.’
  • ‘We explored lots of gloomy, wet and dark alleys.’
  • ‘The sea is sparkling, the drowned city is dark, and gloomy.’
  • ‘They then scurried into the shadows provided in a dark and gloomy alley.’
  • ‘Our school is still fantastic inside but from the outside, with its boarded up windows, it appears gloomy, horrible and derelict.’
  • ‘Gradually he became an outcast, and on a dark gloomy day, he took a vow.’
  • ‘This morning, there has been no rain, but the sky still looks dark and gloomy.’
  • ‘Gone forever was the dark and gloomy look, to say nothing of slippery floors and stuffy odours.’
  • ‘The dark and gloomy colours of the works contrast with the whiteness of the hall's interior.’
  • ‘Or you might want to follow the route, looking for phantoms on a suitably dark and gloomy night.’
  • ‘This used to be a dark, gloomy platform with peeling paint on the walls and a grimy low ceiling.’
  • ‘If by now you imagine yourself spending your day in dark, gloomy caves, staring at bones, you can forget about it.’
  • ‘I believe it is still up there because otherwise it would be pitch dark instead of just gloomy.’
  • ‘Hesitating she stepped into the gloomy dark, dank hall.’
  • ‘He never noticed it before, but the door was dark and gloomy.’
  • ‘There was no light on up there, and it was very dark and gloomy.’

  Synonyms

  dark, ill-lit, poorly lit, shadowy, sunless, dim, sombre, dingy, frowzy, drab, dismal, dreary, murky, depressing, unwelcoming, uninviting, cheerless, joyless, comfortless, funereal

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• 2Causing or feeling depression or despondency.

  ‘gloomy forecasts about the economy’

  More example sentences

  • ‘It cast a gloomy atmosphere around the station, which did not enhance her mood.’
  • ‘Yet fewer still are - in private - able to hide their sense of gloomy despondency.’
  • ‘So it is with the man himself: an essential sweetness of nature pickled in a brine of gloomy despondency.’
  • ‘The joyful ones also tend to draw more friends, who would rather bathe in the sunshine of happiness than to be cast down into a gloomy depression.’
  • ‘Lauren dreaded walking inside again; the gloomy atmosphere was depressing and made her miss her father even more.’
  • ‘All of a sudden, the gloomy atmosphere of the time stop disappeared.’
  • ‘When I turned on the radio it was to be told that, contrary to yesterday's gloomy forecast, the weather is to become mild again for the days running up to Christmas.’
  • ‘The gloomy forecast will come as a blow to the struggling industry, which was only just beginning to recover from the effects of the foot and mouth crisis earlier this year.’
  • ‘The atmosphere during those closing moments was gloomy, depressing and discouraging.’
  • ‘The number of rebels was far in excess of even the most gloomy government forecast.’
  • ‘The album maintains a gloomy atmosphere, but the feeling modulates.’
  • ‘The gloomy atmosphere of the church radiated around the pedestal.’
  • ‘Like other hardware and chip makers, the company said it saw no turnaround in its fortunes and gave a gloomy forecast of falling computer sales.’
  • ‘The concrete was moist and cold, and the atmosphere was cold and gloomy.’
  • ‘A man is sometimes despondent from disappointment, is gloomy, and has no courage to work.’
  • ‘It wasn't only the threat of war and the worsening economic outlook that contributed to the gloomy atmosphere.’
  • ‘There was hardly a light in the place; the dimness set a gloomy atmosphere in the office.’
  • ‘The gloomy prospect of unemployment and poverty, of insecurity and war is frightening us.’
  • ‘With companies planning to shed jobs it adds up to the prospect of a gloomy winter.’
  • ‘They say it is too gloomy, too dark, not a happy subject.’

  Synonyms

  despondent, downcast, downhearted, dejected, disconsolate, dispirited, crestfallen, cast down, depressed, disappointed, disheartened, discouraged, demoralized, desolate, heavy-hearted, in low spirits, low-spirited, sad, unhappy, glum, full of gloom, doleful, melancholy, miserable, woebegone, mournful, sorrowful, forlorn, long-faced, fed up, in the doldrums, subdued, wretched, lugubrious, Eeyorish, morose, sepulchral, saturnine, dour, mirthless, woeful

  pessimistic, depressing, downbeat, looking on the black side, disheartening, disappointing, dispiriting, unpromising, unfavourable, bleak, bad, dark, black, sombre, melancholy, saddening, distressing, grim, cheerless, comfortless, hopeless

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