gloom
/ɡlum/noun, verb
gloom is spelled G-L-O-O-M: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears 2.0 times per million words in written English, the 19,336th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, gloom means “Darkness, dimness, or obscurity” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of gloom is glooms.
How many letters and syllables are in gloom?
| Letters | 5: G-L-O-O-M |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 2.0 times per million words; the 19,336th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is gloom?
Gloom appears 2.0 times per million words in written English, the 19,336th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce gloom?
- UK /ɡluːm/
- US /ɡlum/
Gloom has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-gloom.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with gloom?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as gloom from its last stressed vowel (/um/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of gloom
- glooms plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- glooming participle, present
- gloomed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does gloom mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Darkness, dimness, or obscurity.
the gloom of a forest, or of midnight
- 2
A depressing, despondent, or melancholic atmosphere.
- 3
Cloudiness or heaviness of mind; melancholy; aspect of sorrow; low spirits; dullness.
- 4
A drying oven used in gunpowder manufacture.
verb
- 1
To be dark or gloomy.
- 2
To look or feel sad, sullen or despondent.
- 3
To render gloomy or dark; to obscure; to darken.
- 4
To fill with gloom; to make sad, dismal, or sullen.
- 5
To shine or appear obscurely or imperfectly; to glimmer.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Gloom in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | obscurité, pénombre, grisaille , morosité, noirceur, sombreur |
| German | Düsternis, Dunkelheit , Trübnis , Schwermut, Melancholie, Niedergeschlagenheit |
| Portuguese | trevas, escuridão, escuro , melancolia, tristeza |
| Spanish | penumbra , tristeza , melancolía |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does gloom come from?
From Middle English *gloom, *glom, from Old English glōm (“gloaming, twilight, darkness”), from Proto-West Germanic *glōm, from Proto-Germanic *glōmaz (“gleam, shimmer, sheen”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰley- (“to gleam, shimmer, glow”). The English word is cognate with Norwegian glom (“transparent membrane”), Scots gloam (“twilight; faint light; dull gleam”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).