mope

[mohp] /moʊp/
verb (used without object), moped, moping.
1.
to be sunk in dejection or listless apathy; sulk; brood.
verb (used with object), moped, moping.
2.
to make dejected, listless, or apathetic.
noun
3.
a person who mopes or is given to moping.
4.
mopes, depressed spirits; blues.
Origin
1560-70; variant of mop2
Related forms
moper, noun
mopingly, adverb
Examples from the web for mope
  • Her understandable response is to mope around the house, and for the next hour the film is as dull and depressive as its heroine.
  • It was a long shot in the first place, so there is not too much to mope about, but it is still a bit disappointing.
  • Heartbroken souls that wallow in their sorrows and mope in perpetual gloom have got it all wrong.
  • Don't mope because of the heat-induced slow fishing during the day.
  • Dismembered tentacles mope in the attic listening to punk music.
British Dictionary definitions for mope

mope

/məʊp/
verb (intransitive)
1.
to be gloomy or apathetic: there's no time to mope
2.
to move or act in an aimless way: he moped around the flat
noun
3.
a gloomy person
See also mopes
Derived Forms
moper, noun
mopy, adjective
Word Origin
C16: perhaps from obsolete mope fool and related to mop²
Word Origin and History for mope
v.

1560s, "to move and act unconsciously;" 1580s, "to be listless and apathetic," the sound of the word perhaps somehow suggestive of low feelings (cf. Low German mopen "to sulk," Dutch moppen "to grumble, to grouse," Danish maabe, dialectal Swedish mopa "to mope"). Related: Moped; moping; mopey; mopish.

Slang definitions & phrases for mope

mope

noun
  1. A stupid person; fool; boob: They weren't a bunch of mopes/ make it easy for regular mopes to use the Internet (1540+)
  2. A criminal; suspect; perp (1980s+ Police)