I think I’ve hated morose longer than any word I can remember hating.
It’s likely I first got acquainted with it while studying for the SATs in high school, but I’m sure I hated it even before I heard it. I hated “morose” from the womb. I could hear my mother using it, mostly while boozing. But it took me until just today to realize why I hate it.
Normally I like words that sound like their meaning (here, “expressive of gloom, sullen”) but MOROSE sounds TOO MUCH like its meaning. It’s impossible to say it with a happy tone. Just to pronounce it, you have to adopt a slow, drawling elephant voice. “I feel…mo-ROOooows…” It takes work to say it, and when I’m feeling low, I get lazy.
So just say you’re sad from now on.
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