brooding

[ broo-ding ]

adjective

1. preoccupied with depressing, morbid, or painful memories or thoughts:

   a brooding frame of mind.

2. cast in subdued light so as to convey a somewhat threatening atmosphere:

   Dusk fell on the brooding hills.

Other Words From

• brooding·ly adverb
• non·brooding adjective noun
• un·brooding adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of brooding¹

First recorded in 1810–20 brooding fordef 1; 1640–50 brooding fordef 2; brood + -ing ²

Example Sentences

"You miss Russell Crowe, but Mescal is always watchable, with a stocky, swarthy, brooding presence," he added in the four-star review.

From BBC

David Rooney was less favourable about Mescal's performance and called it "a tad flat at times" with his emotional range "sticking mostly to the same notes of brooding intensity and simmering rage".

From BBC

Granted, “Out of Time’s” earworm “Shiny Happy People” is gratingly banal, but the album also features spoken-word passages, brooding bass lines and ghostly steel-guitar drone.

From Los Angeles Times

But the director of “Longlegs,” a brooding serial killer film, has a sensibility that’s all his own.

From Los Angeles Times

Since his breakout role as Ben Covington, the brooding heartthrob of late-’90s coming-of-age drama “Felicity” who could make “hey” sound like a 10-page love letter, Speedman has distanced himself from the character.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• contemplation
• meditation
• reflection
• scrutiny
• self-examination
• soul-searching