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

Example 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 In this family road-trip pic set during the 2008 financial crisis, one disturbing sequence after another is played out on the morose face of John Magaro, who is clearly keeping the truth from them — and us — of what this journey is actually all about. Damon Wise, Deadline, 2 Feb. 2025 The always astonishing Ben Whishaw plays the sweet, morose, gay, chain-smoking, furtively sincere, faraway-eyed Hujar, a veteran freelance photographer who was just coming into his own as a gallery artist and downtown scenester. Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 27 Jan. 2025 But none of it would have landed had Gad, Lee, and the rest of the Frozen 2 creative team stuck with the morose original cut. Ryan Coleman, EW.com, 15 Jan. 2025 But many others don’t fit this stereotype, appearing morose or burdened. Julia Binswanger, Smithsonian Magazine, 8 Jan. 2025 See All Example Sentences for morose
Recent Examples of Synonyms for morose
Adjective
  • The somber financial picture leaves the city caught between cutting services to the public and finding a way to raise money.
    Luis Melecio-Zambrano, Mercury News, 5 June 2025
  • The incident caused a somber scene near home plate, as Yankees teammates, coaches and personnel huddled around the always-affable 26-year-old before an ambulance took him off the field and to a nearby hospital.
    Gary Phillips, New York Daily News, 5 June 2025
Adjective
  • The somewhat bleak outlook was laid bare Tuesday night after the USMNT was thrashed 4-0 by Switzerland during a friendly in Nashville.
    Ben Church, CNN Money, 11 June 2025
  • Instead of learning from this bleak recent history, Americans are now painfully absorbing this lesson by repeating it.
    Jonathan Haskel, Foreign Affairs, 10 June 2025
Adjective
  • Men with moderate or severe depressive symptoms were 62% times more likely to use intimate partner violence by 2022 compared to those who had not had these symptoms, while men with suicidal thoughts, plans or attempts were 47% times as likely, the study found.
    Lex Harvey, CNN Money, 5 June 2025
  • Additionally, those with restrictive calorie diets reported higher numbers of depressive symptoms, including low mood, low energy and sleep disturbances.
    Charna Flam, People.com, 5 June 2025
Adjective
  • All that matters is whether Dance Mom, a character designed in a lab to be a depressing punchline, pulls in just enough of the always-online demo to boost their numbers among younger viewers.
    Kathryn VanArendonk, Vulture, 30 May 2025
  • Music was a way to showcase something that wasn’t depressing.
    Ramin Setoodeh, Variety, 28 May 2025
Adjective
  • As found in the survey, adults who experience daily loneliness are nearly five times more likely to rate their current life poorly compared to those who aren’t lonely.
    Mark Travers, Forbes.com, 9 June 2025
  • Skeletal branches created a cathedral over the lonely vehicle where the 64-year-old man had breathed his last, the winter-gray river placid in the background behind a ramble of fences.
    Brenna Ehrlich, Rolling Stone, 8 June 2025
Adjective
  • Its reversible design features dark stripes on one side made of 92 percent wool, 4 percent polyester, and 4 percent cotton, and the opposite side is made from 100 percent cotton in the solid natural color.
    Caley Sturgill, Southern Living, 15 June 2025
  • The Republican president, on his 79th birthday, sat in a special viewing stand south of the White House to watch the display of American military might, which began early and moved swiftly as light rain fell and dark clouds shrouded the Washington Monument.
    LOLITA C. BALDOR, Arkansas Online, 15 June 2025
Adjective
  • When The Last of Us premiered back in 2023, there was massive chatter surrounding Pascal and his penchant for rescuing desolate children in TV shows.
    Stephanie Sengwe, People.com, 25 May 2025
  • See a camera operator following Snook to a desolate corner?
    CT Jones, Rolling Stone, 21 May 2025
Adjective
  • There’s also the morbid curiosity about Brian’s death.
    Tyler Hicks, Rolling Stone, 5 June 2025
  • In 1900, the average life expectancy of a 1-year-old in the U.S. was about 56 years; that bespeaks a morbid population of infants.
    Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 3 June 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Morose.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/morose. Accessed 19 Jun. 2025.

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