English

Noun

gloaming ‎(plural gloamings)

1. (poetry, Scotland, Britain, Northern England) twilight, as at early morning or (especially) early evening; dusk
   • 1898 — H. G. Wells, The War of the Worlds, Book 1, ch 6

     You may imagine the young people brushed up after the labours of the day, and making this novelty, as they would make any novelty, the excuse for walking together and enjoying a trivial flirtation. You may figure to yourself the hum of voices along the road in the gloaming...

   • 2001 — David Lodge, Thinks...

     I clung to her nipples as she soared and swooped through the gloaming, scooping up insects, and I remember the shapes of things that she flew between, above, beneath.

2. (obsolete) sullenness; melancholy

   (Can we find and add a quotation of J. Still to this entry?)

Synonyms

• crepuscule, vespers, twilight, sundown, dusk, dawn

Antonyms

• diurnal, daytime, daylight, as well as nocturnal, nighttime, darkness

Translations

Related terms

• gloom

1. ↑ Oxford English Dictionary, G-222.