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as in sad
feeling unhappiness how can you be glum after such a great day?

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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Synonym Chooser

How is the word glum different from other adjectives like it?

Some common synonyms of glum are crabbed, gloomy, morose, saturnine, sulky, sullen, and surly. While all these words mean "showing a forbidding or disagreeable mood," glum suggests a silent dispiritedness.

a glum candidate left to ponder a stunning defeat

When is crabbed a more appropriate choice than glum?

Although the words crabbed and glum have much in common, crabbed applies to a forbidding morose harshness of manner.

the school's notoriously crabbed headmaster

When can gloomy be used instead of glum?

In some situations, the words gloomy and glum are roughly equivalent. However, gloomy implies a depression in mood making for seeming sullenness or glumness.

a gloomy mood ushered in by bad news

How do morose and glum relate to one another?

Morose adds to glum an element of bitterness or misanthropy.

morose job seekers who are inured to rejection

When might saturnine be a better fit than glum?

While the synonyms saturnine and glum are close in meaning, saturnine describes a heavy forbidding aspect or suggests a bitter disposition.

a saturnine cynic always finding fault

When is it sensible to use sulky instead of glum?

The words sulky and glum can be used in similar contexts, but sulky suggests childish resentment expressed in peevish sullenness.

grew sulky after every spat

When would sullen be a good substitute for glum?

The meanings of sullen and glum largely overlap; however, sullen implies a silent ill humor and a refusal to be sociable.

remained sullen amid the festivities

When could surly be used to replace glum?

The synonyms surly and glum are sometimes interchangeable, but surly implies gruffness and sullenness of speech or manner.

a typical surly teenager

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of glum But after blanking at the Screen Actors Guild and BAFTAs, Kidman’s performance as a glum tech CEO who begins an office affair with young intern had lost too much momentum for Oscar recognition. J. Kim Murphy, Variety, 23 Jan. 2025 The total number of Champagne shipments from France sank nearly 10% last year to 271 million bottles, marking the second consecutive year of declines as inflation-weary consumers cut back and a generally glum mood permeates across the globe. Cnn.com Wire Service, The Mercury News, 20 Jan. 2025 Meanwhile, Apolline and Pablo’s home life isn’t fleshed out beyond a glum impression. J. Kim Murphy, Variety, 10 Jan. 2025 In a bid to counter glum news from the front line, Ukraine seized part of Kursk last August in what was the first occupation of Russian territory since World War II. Illia Novikov, Los Angeles Times, 3 Jan. 2025 See All Example Sentences for glum
Recent Examples of Synonyms for glum
Adjective
  • Voters were also asked to give one word to describe the Democratic Party, and the responses were bleak.
    Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 21 Mar. 2025
  • Outside of the December slide, this is as bleak as it’s looked for the Rangers this season.
    Arthur Staple, The Athletic, 21 Mar. 2025
Adjective
  • Family members and two of his lawyers say he was diagnosed with severe PTSD, a sad and rapid fall that ended in another explosion of violence.
    Nicholas Williams, New York Daily News, 16 Mar. 2025
  • Staying true to its sad sierreño roots, Eslabon Armado delivered a 15-songs moody set that navigates different emotions from love, loss, nostalgia, and moving on.
    Jessica Roiz, Billboard, 14 Mar. 2025
Adjective
  • Field’s somber, clear-eyed Sonya has ardent desires but few illusions.
    Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 19 Mar. 2025
  • At a somber bill-signing less than a month after the mass shooting at the school, Scott was joined by parents of the Parkland victims and area legislators in his office in the state Capitol in Tallahassee.
    Steve Bousquet, Orlando Sentinel, 18 Mar. 2025
Adjective
  • An exception is oil and gas executives, some of whom are buying while their shares are depressed.
    John Dorfman, Forbes, 10 Mar. 2025
  • The San Francisco Chronicle reported that Wood became depressed and died by suicide less than a year after the incident.
    Newsweek, Newsweek, 10 Mar. 2025
Adjective
  • Though most people benefit from eating more fiber, some may need to temporarily reduce their fiber intake to help their digestive system heal, such as during a flare-up of irritable bowel disease (IBD), diverticulitis, or Crohn’s disease.4 3.
    Melissa Nieves, Verywell Health, 7 Mar. 2025
  • Tornado Alley is a strip from Nebraska to Texas known for irritable weather systems.
    Ella Gonzales, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 4 Mar. 2025
Adjective
  • Retirement has been described by many who struggle as being incredibly lonely.
    Lorraine Wiseman, Forbes, 18 Mar. 2025
  • Four months ago, the lonely widower met Anna Valenza.
    Miami Herald Archives, Miami Herald, 17 Mar. 2025
Adjective
  • Rather than panic, consider that software developers are pretty unhappy with the status quo.
    Steve Rodda, Forbes, 18 Mar. 2025
  • Recent polling also suggests that Americans are relatively unhappy with DOGE’s efforts.
    Filip Timotija, The Hill, 15 Mar. 2025
Adjective
  • In the film, Adèle Haenel plays Héloïse, a sullen 18th-century French daughter of privilege, and Noémie Merlant plays Marianne, the adventurous artist hired to paint her.
    Emma Specter, Vogue, 9 Mar. 2025
  • Madison, whose full name is Mikaela Madison Rosberg, first rose to fame for the role of a sullen teenager in the FX comedy Better Things.
    Lissete Lanuza Sáenz, StyleCaster, 3 Mar. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Glum.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/glum. Accessed 25 Mar. 2025.

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