GLUM Synonyms: 272 Similar and Opposite Words

Q: How is the word 'glum' different from other adjectives like it?

Some common synonyms of glum are crabbed , gloomy , morose , saturnine , sulky , sullen , and surly . While all these words mean "showing a forbidding or disagreeable mood," glum suggests a silent dispiritedness. // a glum candidate left to ponder a stunning defeat

Q: When is 'crabbed' a more appropriate choice than 'glum'?

Although the words crabbed and glum have much in common, crabbed applies to a forbidding morose harshness of manner. // the school's notoriously crabbed headmaster

Q: When can 'gloomy' be used instead of 'glum'?

In some situations, the words gloomy and glum are roughly equivalent. However, gloomy implies a depression in mood making for seeming sullenness or glumness. // a gloomy mood ushered in by bad news

Q: How do 'morose' and 'glum' relate to one another?

Morose adds to glum an element of bitterness or misanthropy. // morose job seekers who are inured to rejection

Q: When might 'saturnine' be a better fit than 'glum'?

While the synonyms saturnine and glum are close in meaning, saturnine describes a heavy forbidding aspect or suggests a bitter disposition. // a saturnine cynic always finding fault

Q: When is it sensible to use 'sulky' instead of 'glum'?

The words sulky and glum can be used in similar contexts, but sulky suggests childish resentment expressed in peevish sullenness. // grew sulky after every spat

Q: When would 'sullen' be a good substitute for 'glum'?

The meanings of sullen and glum largely overlap; however, sullen implies a silent ill humor and a refusal to be sociable. // remained sullen amid the festivities

Q: When could 'surly' be used to replace 'glum'?

The synonyms surly and glum are sometimes interchangeable, but surly implies gruffness and sullenness of speech or manner. // a typical surly teenager

glum

adjective

ˈgləm

Definition of glum

as in bleak

causing or marked by an atmosphere lacking in cheer the usual glum waiting room at the tax collector's office a cold, glum day

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in sad

feeling unhappiness how can you be glum after such a great day?

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in pouting

given to or displaying a resentful silence and often irritability a chronically glum and pouting child

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Synonym Chooser

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

Some common synonyms of glum are crabbed, gloomy, morose, saturnine, sulky, sullen, and surly. While all these words mean "showing a forbidding or disagreeable mood," glum suggests a silent dispiritedness.

a glum candidate left to ponder a stunning defeat

When is crabbed a more appropriate choice than glum?

Although the words crabbed and glum have much in common, crabbed applies to a forbidding morose harshness of manner.

the school's notoriously crabbed headmaster

When can gloomy be used instead of glum?

In some situations, the words gloomy and glum are roughly equivalent. However, gloomy implies a depression in mood making for seeming sullenness or glumness.

a gloomy mood ushered in by bad news

How do morose and glum relate to one another?

Morose adds to glum an element of bitterness or misanthropy.

morose job seekers who are inured to rejection

When might saturnine be a better fit than glum?

While the synonyms saturnine and glum are close in meaning, 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 glum?

The words sulky and glum can be used in similar contexts, but sulky suggests childish resentment expressed in peevish sullenness.

grew sulky after every spat

When would sullen be a good substitute for glum?

The meanings of sullen and glum largely overlap; however, sullen implies a silent ill humor and a refusal to be sociable.

remained sullen amid the festivities

When could surly be used to replace glum?

The synonyms surly and glum are sometimes interchangeable, but 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 glum The series remains perpetually glum, refusing to project any light behind a conceit begging for a few laughs. — Ben Travers, IndieWire, 28 Aug. 2026 Alongside her note, the four-time Grammy winner shared a snapshot of herself looking glum in a hospital bed. — Emlyn Travis, Entertainment Weekly, 19 Aug. 2026 But even to conceive of the DSA’s entry to the party as mainly an electoral setback, as some glum liberals appear to be doing, is to miss the deeper significance of the group’s influence. — Jonathan Chait, The Atlantic, 1 July 2026 Coming to the glum realization that love isn’t outlasting infatuation is trickier to write about than a more incendiary subject like unfaithfulness, but Rodrigo pulls it off. — Chris Willman, Variety, 12 June 2026 See All Example Sentences for glum

Recent Examples of Synonyms for glum

Adjective

Whether or not this year takes the top slot in that bleak ranking is still unclear.

— Jackie Flynn Mogensen, Scientific American, 2 Oct. 2026
Its successes have provided a spark of optimism in what has otherwise been a bleak few months for Ukraine.

— Ivana Kottasová, CNN Money, 2 Oct. 2026

Definition of bleak

Adjective

Spark, a writer of the first rank, brought her beautifully to life in this moving, rather sad novel of Edinburgh in the 1930s.

— The Week US, TheWeek, 5 Oct. 2026
And yet the allegation against her now enters Orange County’s long, sad spectrum of anti-Mexican political history.

— Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 4 Oct. 2026

Definition of sad

Adjective

Coach There’s no better feeling than walking into your last show of the day, irritable and hungry, only to discover that snacks are being served.

— Anna Grace Lee, Vogue, 17 Sep. 2026
If a relative or housemate seems irritable, ask what’s going on instead of working around the mood.

— Tarot.com, Chicago Tribune, 11 Sep. 2026

Definition of irritable

Adjective

Elderly couples surrounded us in somber ceremony, each of them in seats clustered close to one another, some holding hands, their fingers dusted in crumb cake.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 30 Sep. 2026
Many social media users suggested Pearman may have missed the point of the somber experience of visiting a living memorial where one of history’s greatest atrocities occurred.

— Brian Niemietz, New York Daily News, 25 Sep. 2026

Definition of somber

Adjective

In other words, support for white nationalism was higher among people living in more distressed or economically depressed places.

— James Bisbee, The Conversation, 2 Oct. 2026
My idea of Sweden was based entirely on Scandi-noir dramas, all bleak landscapes, depressed people and woolly jumpers.

— Natasha Langan, TheWeek, 29 Sep. 2026

Definition of depressed

Adjective

At the end of all that immersiveness, exiting out onto the physical street to join the crowds of shuffling tourists and fend off sullen Elmos makes Times Square feel like the soul of authenticity.

— Justin Davidson, Curbed, 1 Oct. 2026
Shortly after the invasion of London begins, the capital is under rebel control, so what is this previously quiet and sullen teenage King to do?

— Pete Hammond, Deadline, 9 Sep. 2026

Definition of sullen

Adjective

Its success made Cohn a rich, if unhappy, man, at least for a long while.

— Lily Moayeri, SPIN, 6 Oct. 2026
What appeared to be a fairly normal election for a president halfway through his term — a probable setback, as unhappy voters register their discontent — has the potential, Cook said, to turn into a disaster for Republicans.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 4 Oct. 2026

Definition of unhappy

Browse Nearby Words

gluing

glum

glumly

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“Glum.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/glum. Accessed 9 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of glum

adjective

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