Definition of "gloom" []

• Partial or total darkness; dimness: switched on a table lamp to banish the gloom of a winter afternoon. (noun)
• A partially or totally dark place, area, or location. (noun)
• An atmosphere of melancholy or depression: Gloom pervaded the office. (noun)
• A state of melancholy or depression; despondency. (noun)
• To be or become dark, shaded, or obscure. (verb-intransitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Likewise, he wants to stay away from what he calls the "gloom," saying it's almost too easy to tell the story of Detroit's decline through moving images."
• "Who needs to soak themselves in gloom and cynicism and fighting?"
• "The silence of gloom is merciful, shrouding one as with protection and breathing a thousand intangible sympathies; but the bright White Silence, clear and cold, under steely skies, is pitiless."