Gloomy — Meaning, Definition & Synonyms

Gloomy (adjective) — Senses, Synonyms & Antonyms

1. causing or marked by an atmosphere lacking in cheer

   "the cold rain made for a gloomy day"

   similar: black, bleak, cheerless, chill, Cimmerian, cloudy, cold, comfortless, dark, darkening, depressing, depressive, desolate, dire, disconsolate, dismal, drear, dreary, dreich (chiefly Scottish), elegiac, forlorn, funereal, glum, godforsaken, gray, lonely, lonesome, lugubrious, miserable, morbid, morose, murky, plutonian, saturnine, sepulchral, solemn, somber, sullen, sunless, tenebrific, tenebrous, wretched
   related: blue, dejected, depressed, despondent, down, droopy, hangdog, inconsolable, low, melancholic, melancholy, mirthless, sad, unhappy, woebegone, woeful, dim, discomfiting, discouraging, disheartening, dismaying, dispiriting, distressful, distressing, upsetting, desperate, hopeless, pessimistic, lamentable, mournful, plaintive, sorrowful, colorless, drab, dull, dour, grim, lowering, lowery, menacing, negative, oppressive, threatening
   opposite: bright, cheerful, cheering, cheery, comforting, cordial, festive, friendly, gay, heartwarming, sunshiny
   near: blithe, blithesome, buoyant, gay, jocund, jolly, joyful, joyous, merry, mirthful, encouraging, hopeful, optimistic, lighthearted, lightsome

2. feeling unhappiness

   "has been gloomy ever since the breakup with his girlfriend"

   similar: bad, blue, brokenhearted, cast down, crestfallen, dejected, depressed, despondent, disconsolate, doleful, down, down in the mouth, downcast, downhearted, droopy, forlorn, glum, hangdog, heartbroken, heartsick, heartsore, heavyhearted, inconsolable, joyless, low, low-spirited, melancholic, melancholy, miserable, mournful, sad, saddened, sorrowful, sorry, unhappy, woebegone, woeful, wretched
   related: aggrieved, distressed, troubled, uneasy, unquiet, upset, worried, despairing, hopeless, sunk, disappointed, discouraged, disheartened, dispirited, suicidal, dolorous, lachrymose, lugubrious, plaintive, tearful, regretful, rueful, agonized, anguished, grieving, wailing, weeping, black, bleak, cheerless, comfortless, dark, darkening, depressing, desolate, dismal, drear, dreary, elegiac, funereal, gray, morbid, morose, murky, saturnine, somber, sullen
   opposite: blissful, buoyant, buoyed, cheerful, cheery, chipper, delighted, glad, gladdened, gladsome, gleeful, happy, joyful, joyous, jubilant, sunny, upbeat
   near: ecstatic, elated, enraptured, entranced, euphoric, exhilarated, exuberant, exultant, overjoyed, rapturous, rhapsodic, blithe, blithesome, jocose, jocular, jocund, jolly, jovial, lightsome, merry, mirthful, excited, thrilled, hopeful, optimistic, rosy, sanguine, encouraged, heartened, animated, bouncing, energetic, frisky, jaunty, lively, peppy, perky, spirited, sprightful, sprightly, springy, vital, vivacious, zippy, content, gratified, pleased, satisfied, beaming, grinning, laughing, smiling, boon, carefree, careless, cavalier, devil-may-care, easygoing, happy-go-lucky, insouciant, lighthearted, unconcerned

3. being without light or without much light

   "that house would be less gloomy if some of the overgrown trees and shrubs were cleared away"

   similar: black, caliginous, dark, darkened, darkish, darkling, darksome, dim, dimmed, dusk, dusky, lightless, murky, obscure, obscured, pitch-black, pitch-dark, pitchy, rayless, somber, stygian, tenebrific, tenebrous, unlit
   related: crepuscular, twilit, moonless, starless, sunless, cloudy, dull, dulled, lackluster, shadowlike, shadowy, shady, gray, leaden, pale, beclouded, befogged, clouded, foggy, fuliginous, misty, smoggy, soupy
   opposite: bright, brightened, brilliant, illuminated, illumined, light, lit, lightsome, lucent, lucid, luminous
   near: ablaze, agleam, aglitter, alight, beaming, beamy, effulgent, glaring, glowing, incandescent, lambent, radiant, relucent, resplendent, shining, sparkling, ultrabright, glossy, lustrous, shiny, floodlit, highlighted, spotlighted, moonlit, moony, starlit, sunlit