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

Under Sorrells, morale at the office is bleak and has resulted in an exodus, according to two veteran prosecutors who left the office and spoke on the condition they not be identified.

— Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 24 Oct. 2026
Yet missing from this bleak picture are the ways that Ukraine has already adapted to escalating attacks.

— Tatiana Mitrova, Foreign Affairs, 23 Oct. 2026

Definition of bleak

Adjective

State Drive, an ugly black roadway, separates the Science Center and its new addition from the park’s Rose Garden, and serves as a sad connector to the rest of the park.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 27 Oct. 2026
As more details came out, the sad truth of Perry’s relapses and drug hustle emerged.

— Dominic Patten, Deadline, 27 Oct. 2026

Definition of sad

Adjective

Murray says her own experience has made her more understanding when female colleagues seem more tired or irritable than usual, particularly when the behavior is out of character.

— Jo Ann Liguori, Flow Space, 21 Oct. 2026
Could be because for much of the running time, Abrams’ Jay Gardiner is up against what looks like a very large irritable sphincter.

— David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 14 Oct. 2026

Definition of irritable

Adjective

The daughter of a brass tree guest told me that on the last day, her mother pulled her aside and offered a somber warning.

— Kate Berlant, Condé Nast Traveler, 22 Oct. 2026
Miller's new ad opens with a somber sequence of close-ups of various people's faces as the congressman talks about how divorce affects families.

— Lara Korte The Washington Post, Arkansas Online, 18 Oct. 2026

Definition of somber

Adjective

Celebrated as masterpieces today, at the time they were regarded as the unpolished works of a depressed, crazy man and commercially worthless.

— Joan Martelli, Time, 17 Oct. 2026
In the event of a severe winter or import bottlenecks, depressed storage levels not only narrow Europe's capacity to absorb supply shocks but also risk driving natural gas prices higher.

— , CNBC, 14 Oct. 2026

Definition of depressed

Adjective

The performances range from Sara Bareilles to Johnny Cash songs to unexpected tearjerkers, but the night’s real draw is a welcoming room where people share their sorrows, feel less lonely and build friendships.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 26 Oct. 2026
Many of society’s loneliest and most attention-starved members become its most desperate and violent.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 26 Oct. 2026

Definition of lonely

Adjective

Many of the women in the packed courtroom gallery appeared unhappy when the sentences were rendered.

— Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 28 Oct. 2026
Andy’s view Almost 14 years into Xi Jinping’s norm-busting reign, just about everybody is unhappy with his economy.

— Andy Browne, semafor.com, 27 Oct. 2026

Definition of unhappy

Browse Nearby Words

gluing

glum

glumly

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Cite this Entry

Style

“Glum.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/glum. Accessed 28 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of glum

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