Synonym Chooser

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

Some common synonyms of morose are crabbed, gloomy, glum, saturnine, sulky, sullen, and surly. While all these words mean "showing a forbidding or disagreeable mood," morose adds to glum an element of bitterness or misanthropy.

morose job seekers who are inured to rejection

When can crabbed be used instead of morose?

The synonyms crabbed and morose are sometimes interchangeable, but crabbed applies to a forbidding morose harshness of manner.

the school's notoriously crabbed headmaster

When is gloomy a more appropriate choice than morose?

The meanings of gloomy and morose largely overlap; however, gloomy implies a depression in mood making for seeming sullenness or glumness.

a gloomy mood ushered in by bad news

In what contexts can glum take the place of morose?

The words glum and morose are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, glum suggests a silent dispiritedness.

a glum candidate left to ponder a stunning defeat

Where would saturnine be a reasonable alternative to morose?

Although the words saturnine and morose have much in common, 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 morose?

While the synonyms sulky and morose are close in meaning, sulky suggests childish resentment expressed in peevish sullenness.

grew sulky after every spat

When could sullen be used to replace morose?

The words sullen and morose can be used in similar contexts, but sullen implies a silent ill humor and a refusal to be sociable.

remained sullen amid the festivities

When might surly be a better fit than morose?

While in some cases nearly identical to morose, surly implies gruffness and sullenness of speech or manner.

a typical surly teenager

Examples 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 morose 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 
Recent Examples of Synonyms for morose
Adjective
  • The somber music should have been my first clue, but I was too wrapped up in the euphoria of Jane soon realizing that someone valued her life enough to save her from certain death.
    Lincee Ray, EW.com, 18 Jan. 2025
  • When a photographer suggests that the family pose with a somber demeanor for a shot that will be featured in an article about Rubens’ disappearance, Eunice refuses, instructing her children to smile broadly.
    Carlos Aguilar, Los Angeles Times, 17 Jan. 2025
Adjective
  • Matt Harrison, president of Kuka Home North America, which has a furniture manufacturing base in Monterrey, fears the future could be bleak.
    David Culver, CNN, 18 Jan. 2025
  • The negotiations have seemingly stalled and the market for him is bleak.
    Yaakov Katz, Newsweek, 16 Jan. 2025
Adjective
  • Without these, retirees may experience lower self-worth and a lack of purpose that makes depressive symptoms worse.
    John Mac Ghlionn, Newsweek, 14 Jan. 2025
  • For every one-unit increase in a father's pre-birth well-being, the depressive symptom score was decreased by 1.2%.
    Kimanzi Constable, Parents, 9 Jan. 2025
Adjective
  • Viewership increased, the Afternoon Depression Zone grew less depressing, everyone seemed happier.
    Kimberlee Speakman, People.com, 23 Jan. 2025
  • As well as Inauguration Day and Martin Luther King Jr. Day, today is known as Blue Monday – thought to be the most depressing day of the year.
    Alyssa Jaffer, Forbes, 20 Jan. 2025
Adjective
  • But for now, Bannon is a fairly lonely voice shouting against AI velocity.
    Axios, Axios, 18 Jan. 2025
  • Some suggested ways to make the dog feel less lonely when Lauren isn't home, such as leaving the TV on.
    John Mac Ghlionn, Newsweek, 14 Jan. 2025
Adjective
  • The Hughes Fire broke out in the late morning and within hours charred more than 15 square miles of trees and brush, sending up plumes of dark smoke near Lake Castaic, a popular recreation area about 40 miles from the devastating Eaton and Palisades fires that are burning for a third week.
    Marcio Jose Sanchez, Chicago Tribune, 22 Jan. 2025
  • The popular hangout also specializes in dark lagers and hoppy IPAs.
    Brad Japhe, Travel + Leisure, 22 Jan. 2025
Adjective
  • Compared to the desolate, almost alien landscape of South Dakota, the North Dakota badlands are flush with vibrant vegetation: Rocky Mountain juniper woodlands, cottonwoods that thrive in the Little Missouri River basin, and sunflowers, asters, and rabbitbrush that bloom in the late summer months.
    Erica Zazo, Outside Online, 9 Jan. 2025
  • After the twinkling lights of the holiday season have been packed away, winter can feel downright dull and desolate, especially for families with energetic kids trapped inside by the cold.
    Erica Jackson Curran, Parents, 25 Dec. 2024
Adjective
  • The old is dying, the new cannot be born, and a great variety of morbid symptoms has appeared.
    Charles A. Kupchan, The Atlantic, 10 Jan. 2025
  • What Mishima set out to do in his final decade was to devise a cause to die for, a cause that had historical precedents but was still a figment of his richly morbid imagination.
    Ian Buruma, The New Yorker, 6 Jan. 2025

Thesaurus Entries Near morose

Cite this Entry

“Morose.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/morose. Accessed 29 Jan. 2025.

More from Merriam-Webster on morose

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!