The word “morose” has long served as a succinct descriptor for a gloomy, sullen state of being in literature. Authors use it to paint characters with a brooding, often unsociable temperament, whether illustrating a transformation wrought by hardship—as seen in Dickens when a character becomes “the morose, hard man” after personal loss [1]—or emphasizing an inherent, pervasive gloom in figures met on journeys and in quiet moments [2, 3]. Dostoyevsky’s works repeatedly imbue his characters with a moroseness that not only underscores their internal melancholy but also hints at deeper existential turmoils [4, 5, 6, 7]. Chekhov and others similarly employ the term to capture both human and even animal dispositions, using “morose” to signal traits of isolation, irritability, or a reflective sadness that pervades a person’s demeanor [8, 9, 10]. In all these instances, “morose” functions as a powerful shorthand for a range of somber moods, enriching the narrative with an evocative sense of emotional desolation.