moody

Moody is a term with several distinct uses. As an adjective, it describes a person who tends to be gloomy or temperamental, or who experiences rapid changes in mood. The word is formed from mood with the common suffix -y and has been in English since the early modern period. Moody also functions as a surname and appears in the names of various organizations and institutions.

Notable individuals bearing the surname include Dwight Lyman Moody (1837–1899), an American evangelist and publisher who founded the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago and helped shape Protestant evangelism in the United States. The Moody name has since appeared in other contexts through various people and families.

In organizational and corporate use, Moody's Investors Service, commonly known as Moody's, is a major credit rating agency and a unit of Moody's Corporation. It provides credit ratings, research, and risk analysis used by investors, lenders, and governments worldwide. The Moody Bible Institute is a private evangelical college and seminary in Chicago founded by D. L. Moody, continuing the legacy of ministerial training and religious education associated with the Moody name. In popular culture, The Moody Blues is a British rock band formed in Birmingham in 1964; the group adopted the word Moody in its name and became prominent in the progressive rock movement.

Across these uses, Moody functions as a descriptor, a family name, and a brand identifier, illustrating how a single term can traverse language, religion, finance, and culture.