1
: having a sullen and gloomy disposition
2
: marked by or expressive of gloom
Synonyms
- black
- bleak
- cheerless
- chill
- Cimmerian
- cloudy
- cold
- comfortless
- dark
- darkening
- depressing
- depressive
- desolate
- dire
- disconsolate
- dismal
- drear
- dreary
- dreich [chiefly Scottish]
- elegiac
- elegiacal
- forlorn
- funereal
- gloomy
- glum
- godforsaken
- gray
- grey
- lonely
- lonesome
- lugubrious
- miserable
- morbid
- murky
- plutonian
- saturnine
- sepulchral
- solemn
- somber
- sombre
- sullen
- sunless
- tenebrific
- tenebrous
- wretched
Examples of morose in a Sentence
She thought of the bootlegger at home—a raddled, skinny old man, morose and suspicious. He sat on his front step with a shotgun on Halloween night.
—
Alice Munro, Runaway, 2004
We have little finished footage to go by, but enough to give us pause: an exquisite clip of Rochefort, sitting with a book in the half-darkness, his eyes wet, gleaming, and morose.
—Anthony Lane, New Yorker, 3 Feb. 2003
I have never known if Momma sent for us, or if the St. Louis family just got fed up with my grim presence. There is nothing more appalling than a constantly morose child.
—Maya Angelou, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, 1969
He became morose and withdrawn and would not talk to anyone.
those morose job seekers who have grown accustomed to rejection
Alice Munro, Runaway, 2004
We have little finished footage to go by, but enough to give us pause: an exquisite clip of Rochefort, sitting with a book in the half-darkness, his eyes wet, gleaming, and morose.
—Anthony Lane, New Yorker, 3 Feb. 2003
I have never known if Momma sent for us, or if the St. Louis family just got fed up with my grim presence. There is nothing more appalling than a constantly morose child.
—Maya Angelou, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, 1969
He became morose and withdrawn and would not talk to anyone.
those morose job seekers who have grown accustomed to rejection
Recent Examples on the Web
The flamboyant conceptual artist is talking to her stepdaughter, Lydia (Winona Ryder), who’s grown from the morose teenager of Beetlejuice (1988) into the middle-aged star of a hokey ghost-hunting reality show.
—Alison Willmore, Vulture, 28 Aug. 2024
Amelio uses the surging epidemic to bring all three protagonists together again, shifting locations to a morose quarantine facility where Giulio has basically been sentenced to die.
—Jordan Mintzer, The Hollywood Reporter, 1 Sep. 2024
Leno joked that the title was too morose for a Christmas gift, and moved on.
—Liam Rappleye, Detroit Free Press, 16 Aug. 2024
Fame, climate anxiety, choosing a car seat: What’s next for these morose protagonists?
—Annie Berke, Washington Post, 16 July 2024
See all Example Sentences for morose 
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Alison Willmore, Vulture, 28 Aug. 2024
Amelio uses the surging epidemic to bring all three protagonists together again, shifting locations to a morose quarantine facility where Giulio has basically been sentenced to die.
—Jordan Mintzer, The Hollywood Reporter, 1 Sep. 2024
Leno joked that the title was too morose for a Christmas gift, and moved on.
—Liam Rappleye, Detroit Free Press, 16 Aug. 2024
Fame, climate anxiety, choosing a car seat: What’s next for these morose protagonists?
—Annie Berke, Washington Post, 16 July 2024
See all Example Sentences for morose
Articles Related to morose
Dictionary Entries Near morose
Cite this Entry
“Morose.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/morose. Accessed 22 Nov. 2024.
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