gloomy
Dim and cheerless
Gloomy describes darkness or dimness that feels oppressive: a gloomy forest, gloomy winter afternoons.
The word extends naturally to mood—someone gloomy is melancholy or dejected, and a gloomy outlook expects the worst: He gave a gloomy assessment of our chances.
Gloomy suggests heaviness rather than simple sadness.
Dull and depressing
- desolateBleak and abandoned
- bleakDreary and without cheer
- dismalDepressingly dark or dull
- starkSevere and unadorned
austere · uninviting · forlorn · lifeless · barren · cheerless · somber · funereal
Subdued, lasting sadness
- despondentDeeply discouraged, hopeless
- downcastSad or despondent
- disheartenedLost confidence or hope
- dispiritedHaving lost heart
crestfallen · glum · sullen · morose · brooding · moody · somber · blue
Sky fully veiled
- cloudyObscured by atmosphere
- grayNeutral achromatic hue
- drizzlyLight precipitation falling
- foggyObscured by vapor
misty · murky · dim · dull · leaden · hazy · dreary · sombre
Obscured by darkness
shady · tenebrous · crepuscular · nocturnal · moonless · starless · lightless · pitch-black
Expecting negative outcomes
- hopelessBeyond possibility of success
- bleakDreary and without cheer
- dismalDepressingly dark or dull
- direExtremely serious or urgent
fatalistic · cynical · defeatist · despairing · negative · dark · discouraging · unpromising
Period following loss
- bereavedDeprived by death
- grief-strickenOverwhelmed by profound loss
- sorrowfulFilled with grief
- mournfulShowing or feeling grief
heartbroken · inconsolable · distraught · weeping · lamenting · funereal · elegiac · anguished
Suggesting something bad approaches
- portentousOminously significant
- menacingConveying threat or danger
- sinisterThreateningly suggestive of harm
- threateningExpressing intent to harm
eerie · chilling · fateful · boding · dire · forbidding · baleful · inauspicious
dreary
Dull and depressing
stark · austere · uninviting · forlorn · lifeless · barren · cheerless · somber · funereal · sepulchral
melancholy
Subdued, lasting sadness
- despondentDeeply discouraged, hopeless
- downcastSad or despondent
- disheartenedLost confidence or hope
dispirited · crestfallen · glum · sullen · morose · brooding · moody · somber · blue · saturnine
overcast
Sky fully veiled
foggy · misty · murky · dim · dull · leaden · hazy · dreary · sombre · veiled
shadowy
Obscured by darkness
murky · shady · tenebrous · crepuscular · nocturnal · moonless · starless · lightless · pitch-black · blackout
pessimistic
Expecting negative outcomes
dire · fatalistic · cynical · defeatist · despairing · negative · dark · discouraging · unpromising · forlorn
mourning
Period following loss
- bereavedDeprived by death
- grief-strickenOverwhelmed by profound loss
- sorrowfulFilled with grief
mournful · heartbroken · inconsolable · distraught · weeping · lamenting · funereal · elegiac · anguished · dolorous
ominous
Suggesting something bad approaches
- portentousOminously significant
- menacingConveying threat or danger
- sinisterThreateningly suggestive of harm
threatening · eerie · chilling · fateful · boding · dire · forbidding · baleful · inauspicious · haunting
- attitudespositive, negative, ambition, apathy, curiosity
- Darknessblackness, pitch black, pitch-black, inkiness, murk
- negative tonesangry, bitter, cynical, hostile, resentful
- slang moodsbummed, chill, cranky, edgy, grumpy
- outlookoptimism, pessimism, outlook, worldview, perspective
- dejectiondejected, despondent, discouraged, disheartened, dispirited
gloomyoptimistic
Expecting positive results
hopeful · sanguine · encouraging · promising · upbeat
- doom and gloomPersistent negative outlook
- gloom and doomPervasive negative expectation
- gathering gloom
- Gloomy GusHabitually melancholy person
- June gloomCoastal cloud cover, late spring