gloom en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- /ɡlum/ (General-American)
- (General-American) audio
- /ɡluːm/ (Received-Pronunciation)
Etymology
From Middle English *gloom, *glom, from Old English glōm (“gloaming, twilight, darkness”), from Proto-West Germanic *glōm, from Proto-Germanic *glōmaz (“gleam, shimmer, sheen”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰley- (“to gleam, shimmer, glow”). The English word is cognate with Norwegian glom (“transparent membrane”), Scots gloam (“twilight; faint light; dull gleam”).
Meanings
-
(uncountable, usually) Darkness, dimness, or obscurity.
the gloom of a forest, or of midnight
On December 13, Maritime-liveried 66051 powers out of the early morning gloom with three repatriated Class 66s, on the 0809 Dollands Moor Sidings-Scunthorpe Redbourne Siding.
2022 January 12, “News in pictures: Repatriated '66s' return home”, in RAIL, number 948, page 20:Here 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.
[1898], J[ohn] Meade Falkner, Moonfleet, London; Toronto, Ont.: Jonathan Cape, published 1934, →OCLC:
-
(uncountable, usually) A depressing, despondent, or melancholic atmosphere.
Although it's always crowded You still can find some room For broken-hearted lovers To cry there in their gloom.
1956, “Heartbreak Hotel”, Mae Boren Axton, Tommy Durden, Elvis Presley (lyrics), performed by Elvis Presley:A sudden little river crossed my path / As unexpected as a serpent comes. / No sluggish tide congenial to the glooms— / This, as it frothed by, might have been a bath / For the fiend's glowing hoof—to see the wrath / Of its black eddy bespate with flakes and spumes.
1855, Robert Browning, “‘Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came.’”, in Men and Women […], volume I, London: Chapman and Hall, […], →OCLC, stanza 19, page 142:
-
(uncountable, usually) Cloudiness or heaviness of mind; melancholy; aspect of sorrow; low spirits; dullness.
A sullen gloom and furious disorder prevailed by fits.
1770, Edmund Burke, Thoughts on the Cause of the Present Discontents:
- (uncountable, usually) A drying oven used in gunpowder manufacture.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| glooms | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Deriveds
begloom · semigloom · gloomless · gloomy · gloomth · gloomsome · gloomish · gloomward · ungloomed · undergloom · outgloom · gloomful · gloomcore · engloom · gloomies · overgloom · gloomleader · doom and gloom · June gloom · gloomster · gloomily
Relateds
Synonyms
An atmosphere of gloom descended on the assembled crowd.
Translations (86)
gl tebras (depressing, despondent, or melancholy atmosphere) · ru мрак (darkness, dimness, or obscurity) · es melancolía (cloudiness or heaviness of mind; melancholy; aspect of sorrow; low spirits; dullness) · ka ნაღველი (cloudiness or heaviness of mind; melancholy; aspect of sorrow; low spirits; dullness) · pt trevas (depressing, despondent, or melancholy atmosphere) · ka დაღვრემილობა (cloudiness or heaviness of mind; melancholy; aspect of sorrow; low spirits; dullness) · nl duisternis (darkness, dimness, or obscurity) · bg мрак (darkness, dimness, or obscurity) · fi ankeus (depressing, despondent, or melancholy atmosphere) · de Dunkelheit (darkness, dimness, or obscurity) · bg тъмнина (darkness, dimness, or obscurity) · ka უკუნეთი (darkness, dimness, or obscurity) · gl negrura (darkness, dimness, or obscurity) · gl noitebra (darkness, dimness, or obscurity) · ota وحشت (cloudiness or heaviness of mind; melancholy; aspect of sorrow; low spirits; dullness) · ga gruaim (cloudiness or heaviness of mind; melancholy; aspect of sorrow; low spirits; dullness) · pt escuro (darkness, dimness, or obscurity) · de Niedergeschlagenheit (cloudiness or heaviness of mind; melancholy; aspect of sorrow; low spirits; dullness) · fi hämy (darkness, dimness, or obscurity) · el ζόφος (darkness, dimness, or obscurity) · gl saudade (cloudiness or heaviness of mind; melancholy; aspect of sorrow; low spirits; dullness) · gl morriña (cloudiness or heaviness of mind; melancholy; aspect of sorrow; low spirits; dullness) · el σκοτεινιά (darkness, dimness, or obscurity) · el μελαγχολία (cloudiness or heaviness of mind; melancholy; aspect of sorrow; low spirits; dullness) · ru уны́ние (depressing, despondent, or melancholy atmosphere) · grc γνόφος (darkness, dimness, or obscurity) · it depressione (depressing, despondent, or melancholy atmosphere) · es tristeza (depressing, despondent, or melancholy atmosphere) · el κατήφεια (cloudiness or heaviness of mind; melancholy; aspect of sorrow; low spirits; dullness) · de Trübnis (depressing, despondent, or melancholy atmosphere) · ka მოღუშულობა (depressing, despondent, or melancholy atmosphere) · ru темнота́ (darkness, dimness, or obscurity) · fi ankeus (cloudiness or heaviness of mind; melancholy; aspect of sorrow; low spirits; dullness) · bg мрачност (depressing, despondent, or melancholy atmosphere) · pt escuridão (darkness, dimness, or obscurity) · ca tristesa (depressing, despondent, or melancholy atmosphere) · gl escuridade (darkness, dimness, or obscurity) · pt melancolia (depressing, despondent, or melancholy atmosphere) · gl tebras (darkness, dimness, or obscurity) · ru тьма (darkness, dimness, or obscurity) · ru мгла (darkness, dimness, or obscurity) · fr pénombre (darkness, dimness, or obscurity) · fr morosité (cloudiness or heaviness of mind; melancholy; aspect of sorrow; low spirits; dullness) · ka ბნელეთი (darkness, dimness, or obscurity) · fr grisaille (darkness, dimness, or obscurity) · ro melancolie (depressing, despondent, or melancholy atmosphere) · ka ბნელი (darkness, dimness, or obscurity) · fr obscurité (darkness, dimness, or obscurity) · grc στυγνία (depressing, despondent, or melancholy atmosphere) · ka სევდა (cloudiness or heaviness of mind; melancholy; aspect of sorrow; low spirits; dullness) · pt trevas (darkness, dimness, or obscurity) · ka გულგატეხილობა (cloudiness or heaviness of mind; melancholy; aspect of sorrow; low spirits; dullness) · ro întunecare (darkness, dimness, or obscurity) · gl cendra (darkness, dimness, or obscurity) · cy caddug (darkness, dimness, or obscurity) · fr sombreur (depressing, despondent, or melancholy atmosphere) · pt tristeza (depressing, despondent, or melancholy atmosphere) · eo morno (depressing, despondent, or melancholy atmosphere) · sa तमस् (darkness, dimness, or obscurity) · fr morosité (depressing, despondent, or melancholy atmosphere) · ka სიბნელე (darkness, dimness, or obscurity) · el αποθάρρυνση (cloudiness or heaviness of mind; melancholy; aspect of sorrow; low spirits; dullness) · gl fusco (darkness, dimness, or obscurity) · it buio (darkness, dimness, or obscurity) · es penumbra (darkness, dimness, or obscurity) · ka წყვდიადი (darkness, dimness, or obscurity) · mi hiawe (darkness, dimness, or obscurity) · el σκότος (darkness, dimness, or obscurity) · de Schwermut (cloudiness or heaviness of mind; melancholy; aspect of sorrow; low spirits; dullness) · no halvmørke (darkness, dimness, or obscurity) · la mōrōsitās (depressing, despondent, or melancholy atmosphere) · yi אומעט (depressing, despondent, or melancholy atmosphere) · it oscurità (darkness, dimness, or obscurity) · de Düsternis (darkness, dimness, or obscurity) · bg меланхолия (depressing, despondent, or melancholy atmosphere) · el μελαγχολία (depressing, despondent, or melancholy atmosphere) · ca foscor (darkness, dimness, or obscurity) · it tristezza (depressing, despondent, or melancholy atmosphere) · he דיכאון (depressing, despondent, or melancholy atmosphere) · fr noirceur (depressing, despondent, or melancholy atmosphere) · de Melancholie (cloudiness or heaviness of mind; melancholy; aspect of sorrow; low spirits; dullness) · gl sóma (depressing, despondent, or melancholy atmosphere) · mi pōuritanga (darkness, dimness, or obscurity) · it tenebre (darkness, dimness, or obscurity) · gl cendra (depressing, despondent, or melancholy atmosphere) · he חשך (darkness, dimness, or obscurity)