mope
/məʊp
/verb [no object]
1Feel dejected and apathetic: no use moping—things could be worse...
- For the record, here, I'm not moping or sulking or whining, I'm just reflecting, trying to be introspective.
- Karl is moping in the bar over his failed relationship.
- Why waste time moping over the fact that he's not into you in that way?
Synonyms
brood, sulk, be miserable, be gloomy, be sad, be despondent, pine, eat one's heart out, fret, grieve, despair
informal be down in the dumps, be down in the mouth
literary repine
1.1 (mope around/about) Wander about listlessly and aimlessly because of unhappiness or boredom: you spend too much time moping about the house...
- But being miserable and moping around the house isn't doing me any favours either, so I finally decided to hunt out an appropriate activity.
- Are you finding yourself moping around the house in the depths of despair, the wrong results in your hands and feeling unsure about what to do with your life?
- My mom stopped asking me why I was moping around the house instead of doing something productive.
Synonyms
languish, moon, droop, idle, loaf, fiddle, drift, stooge
British informal mooch
North American informal lollygag, bat
noun
1A person given to prolonged spells of low spirits: a bunch of totally depressed mopes...
- The guy's just a big mope.
- New: a whinge
Synonyms
melancholic, depressive, pessimist, prophet of doom, killjoy, moaner
informal sourpuss, wet blanket, party pooper, spoilsport, grouch, grump
British informal misery
rare melancholiac
1.1 (mopes) dated Low spirits; depression: they switched to treating him like a child just bravely out of its mopes...
- Everyone seemed to have a good time, even Fiona, who was apparently trying to get over having the mopes whenever she was not the direct focus of Albert's attention.
Derivatives
moper
- Unlike mere trendy mopers, genuinely depressive musicians are often reluctant to deal with their darkest feelings.
- I can be a moper and a downright bore if left to my own devices at times.
- But he would look like more of a moper if he said no.
mopey
- Actually he really is better then the average guy when we go shopping, well unless it takes too long because then he will start yawning very often and look all miserable and mopy.
- ‘I was a bit mopey and miserable.
- I'm mopey and cranky and uninspired these days.
mopily
mopiness
mopish
/ adjective ...- After it had been a while and I looked fairly mopish my mother dragged me to West Hartford for a trim.
- In the film Stanton is less grand and less sexy, and Travolta plays it subdued, a tad mopish.
- He himself was mopish and brooding.
Origin
Mid 16th century (the early noun sense being 'fool or simpleton'): perhaps of Scandinavian origin; compare with Swedish dialect mopa 'to sulk'.