glum
/ɡlʌm/adjective
glum is spelled G-L-U-M: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 51,738th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, glum means “Despondent; moody; sullen” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in glum?
| Letters | 4: G-L-U-M |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 3 million words; the 51,738th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
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).
How common is glum?
Glum appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 51,738th 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 glum?
- /ɡlʌm/
Glum 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: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-glum.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of glum
- glummer comparative
- glummest superlative
- glums present, singular, he/she/it
- glumming participle, present
- glummed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does glum mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Despondent; moody; sullen.
verb
- 1
obsoleteTo look sullen; to be of a sour countenance; to be glum.
noun
- 1
obsoletesullenness
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Glum in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense despondent:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | morose |
| German | bedrückt, niedergeschlagen, verdrießlich, trist, mürrisch, deprimiert |
| Spanish | decaído, taciturno, morugo, abatido |
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 glum come from?
Probably from Middle Low German glum (“glum”), related to German dialectal glumm (“gloomy, troubled, turbid”). More at gloomy.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).