Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • intransitive verb To think gloomily and persistently about something; be dejected. synonym: brood.
  • intransitive verb To move in a listless or aimless manner, especially from being sad or depressed.
  • noun A person given to gloomy or dejected moods.
  • noun Low spirits; the blues. Often used with the.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A low-spirited, listless, melancholy person; a drone.
  • To be very dull or listless; especially, to be spiritless or gloomy; yield to gloom or despondency: as commonly used, it implies a rather trivial and weak melancholy.
  • To make spiritless or melancholy.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • intransitive verb To be dull and spiritless; to spend time doing little.
  • transitive verb obsolete To make spiritless and stupid.
  • noun A dull, spiritless person.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb to carry one’s self in a depressed, lackadaisical manner; to give oneself up to low spirits; to pout
  • noun A dull, spiritless person.
  • noun A bottom feeder who "mopes" around a pornography studio hoping for his big break and often does bit parts in exchange for room and board and meager pay.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb move around slowly and aimlessly
  • verb be apathetic, gloomy, or dazed
  • noun someone who wastes time

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Origin unknown.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Compare Danish måbe, German muffen.

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Examples

  • But by this time the mope is sucking wind like he’s dying, which Chris was thinking he might very well be doing, although he’s frankly not too concerned about the mope’s health because he’s sucking wind too and his heart’s pounding and his legs are screaming We told you so!

    Lance Mannion: 2010

  • But by this time the mope is sucking wind like he’s dying, which Chris was thinking he might very well be doing, although he’s frankly not too concerned about the mope’s health because he’s sucking wind too and his heart’s pounding and his legs are screaming We told you so!

    Stop! (Pant) In the (gasp) name of (wheeze) the Law! 2010

  • Is "mope" one of those made-for-TV words for the bad guys?

    Stop! (Pant) In the (gasp) name of (wheeze) the Law! 2010

  • He would just kind of mope around the station until the alarm went off.

    CNN Transcript Jun 22, 2007 2007

  • But he did not "mope," as he wrote me one day, "I am too busy for that;" or, he might have said truthfully, too well sustained.

    Authors and Friends Annie Fields 1874

  • I don't know why I was defensive with myself for so long! mo. ped.s until I was in highschool, and my spectacularly unhip mother busted a gut laughing when I read it aloud like the past tense of "mope" and asked her what it was.

    Popular Posts Across MetaFilter 2010

  • With knotted suede tassels hanging like a multitude of floppy ears over a snout-like toe, this is a shoe that seems to mope.

    There's No Business Like Shoe Business Natalia Rachlin 2011

  • Danger would mope and cry but then suddenly laugh hysterically and point out that Care's molded hair could never be brushed or styled and that he had to wear the same silly outfit for years on end.

    care & danger Shelagh Power-Chopra 2011

  • Also, it leads to this very Doctor we are seeing mope about ... and to a far less satisfying conclusion ... that says, Well, life sucks but you get used to it.

    I'm going waaaaaaay back on my LJ rabid1st 2009

  • The blonds on Popular got all of the good lines and funny scenes and, as a result, they were more effective when they were thrust into mope-y drama sequences.

    Gleeful 2010

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