mope

• Rhymes: -əʊp

Compare Danish måbe, German muffen.

mope (third-person singular simple present mopes, present participle moping, simple past and past participle moped)

1. (intransitive) To carry oneself in a depressed, lackadaisical manner; to give oneself up to low spirits; to pout.
2. (transitive) To make spiritless and stupid.

• moper
• mopery
• mopey

mope (plural mopes)

1. (archaic) A dull, spiritless person.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Burton to this entry?)

   Synonym: mopus

2. (pornography industry) 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.
   • 2011: LA Weekly, documenting uses dating to the 1990s

     The porn industry is many things. Subtle is not one of them. So when Porn Inc. went searching for a job title for people like Stephen Hill, the choice was "mope." It's based on the off-camera life of these fringe actors, hangers-on who mope around the studios hoping for a bit role, which if they're lucky might bring them $50 plus food — and the chance to have sex with a real, live woman.

• poem, pome, poëm