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

Unlike Gregor Samsa who is confined to his room after transforming into a huge insect, the protagonist still has to go to work, a dark and bleak absurdity that lays bare the alienation, isolation, and hypocrisy of modern life.

— Deadline, Deadline, 14 Oct. 2026
Providing a faint ray of hope in this otherwise bleak start to life, the five baby orangutans have been settling into their new surroundings in Odisha at the Nandankanan Zoo.

— Rhea Mogul, CNN Money, 14 Oct. 2026

Definition of bleak

Adjective

When the modern-day world has nothing to offer us but AI slop, shrinkflation and a sad acceptance that we can't be bothered to do anything about global warming.

— Ian Stokes, Space.com, 19 Oct. 2026
This island that was so fantastic has become Work Island and that’s sad.

— Joe Lynch, Billboard, 19 Oct. 2026

Definition of sad

Adjective

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
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

Definition of irritable

Adjective

Some are somber, like the single mom Mekko’s left in the lurch or a fellow journalist who prefers feel-good fluff pieces to muckraking.

— Alison Herman, Variety, 14 Oct. 2026
The trailer opens on the somber, grayscale world of London before entering the wild, psychedelic, and magical world of Narnia.

— Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 13 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

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

Dudus was apparently unhappy about a recent NBC News article that exposed Combs’ cushy life behind bars.

— Madeleine Marr, Miami Herald, 19 Oct. 2026
Tim Boyd San Juan Capistrano I’m sure there are Dodgers fans unhappy about losing to the Brewers.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 17 Oct. 2026

Definition of unhappy

Browse Nearby Words

gluing

glum

glumly

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Style

“Glum.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/glum. Accessed 22 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of glum

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