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
  • Despite being known as a city that puts smiles on faces and provides a good time to all, the mood in New Orleans has been much more somber the past few days.
    William Guillory, The Athletic, 4 Jan. 2025
  • While Syrians in the capital looked forward to a new beginning after Assad’s ouster, the mood was more somber along Beirut’s Mediterranean promenade, where residents shared cautious hopes for the new year, reflecting on a country still reeling from war and ongoing crises.
    Ghaith Alsayed, Los Angeles Times, 31 Dec. 2024
Adjective
  • But beneath Pansy’s rage, often a source of that specific, bleak brand of Mike Leigh comedy, lies severe OCD, anxiety, depression, and the grief of having recently lost her mother.
    Radhika Seth, Vogue, 7 Jan. 2025
  • While the art world has felt bleak amid a buckling market, a new art fair is gracing Los Angeles this year.
    Francesca Aton, ARTnews.com, 6 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
  • The depressing part is that the smear campaign worked.
    Nicole Page, IndieWire, 6 Jan. 2025
  • In October, Lilium was scrambling for additional investments to keep the doors open and by late December the company announced that the only people still on the payroll would be handling the depressing job of liquidation.
    David Szondy, New Atlas, 5 Jan. 2025
Adjective
  • The 2024 State of the Global Workplace report by Gallup finds that one in five employees worldwide feels lonely at work.
    Caroline Castrillon, Forbes, 5 Jan. 2025
  • As the crash’s memory has started to fade in the public consciousness, Jim — a real-life physician, to whom the series is dedicated — has waged a long and lonely crusade to uncover the truth of how hundreds of people lost their lives.
    Alison Herman, Variety, 2 Jan. 2025
Adjective
  • TikTok's attorney suggested the app would basically go dark.
    WIRED, WIRED, 10 Jan. 2025
  • Schaeffer, 22, was seen leaving her home on May 23, 2022, with her black-and-white cat, Izzy, and getting into a dark gray BMW that had been parked across the street for six hours, according to security video.
    Noelle Alviz-Gransee, Kansas City Star, 10 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 affable Liverpudlians inspired morbid theories among fans as their hair grew longer and their songs stranger.
    Corey Kilgannon, New York Times, 10 Jan. 2025
  • Mishima’s morbid eroticism gave his best novels their peculiar power.
    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 20 Jan. 2025.

More from Merriam-Webster on morose

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