Gloom Was Darkness Before It Was Sadness
Gloom is darkness or low spirits. The physical sense came first, and the emotional meaning grew out of it.
Gloom is partial darkness, or a state of low spirits. Darkness came first and the mood followed, which is the usual direction for English: physical sensations become emotional vocabulary, not the reverse. The same move gives *bright* for cheerful, *dark* for troubling, *warm* for affectionate and *cold* for unfriendly. *Gloaming*, meaning twilight, is a related Scottish word popularised by Burns.
- Partial darkness. *The gloom of the hall.*
- Low spirits. *A mood of gloom.*
- Gloomy — dark or dispirited. *A gloomy forecast.*
- Gloaming — twilight. *In the gloaming.*
- Doom and gloom — pessimism. *All doom and gloom.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | gloom | Deep gloom. |
| Adjective | gloomy | A gloomy day. |
| Adverb | gloomily | Said gloomily. |
| Related | gloaming | The gloaming. |
| Middle English | gloumen | To look sullen. |
- The lamp barely lifted the gloom.Darkness.
- The results cast a gloom over the office.Mood.
- In the gloaming means at dusk.Scottish.
Light and dark as feelings
- Gloomy — dark, hence dispirited
- Bright — light, hence cheerful or clever
- Dark — of humour, of times, of moods
- Radiant — visibly happy
- Shadow — of doubt, of a former self
From Middle English *gloumen*, to look sullen, of uncertain origin. The noun meaning darkness is recorded from the 1600s.
What is the gloaming?
Twilight, especially the dusk after sunset. It is a Scottish word made familiar by Robert Burns.
Which came first, the dark or the sad meaning?
The dark one. The emotional sense grew out of it, following a common English pattern.