First Known Use: 1574
Dictionary
bleak
adjective \ˈblēk\
: not warm, friendly, cheerful, etc.
: not hopeful or encouraging
Full Definition of BLEAK
1
: exposed and barren and often windswept
3
a : lacking in warmth, life, or kindliness : grim b : not hopeful or encouraging : depressing <a bleak outlook> c : severely simple or austere
— bleak·ly adverb
— bleak·ness noun
See bleak defined for English-language learners
See bleak defined for kids
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Origin of BLEAK
Middle English bleke pale; probably akin to Old English blāc
Related to BLEAK
- Synonyms
- black, gloomy, cheerless, chill, Cimmerian, cloudy, cold, comfortless, dark, darkening, depressing, depressive, desolate, dire, disconsolate, dismal, drear, dreary, dreich [chiefly Scottish], elegiac (also elegiacal), forlorn, funereal, glum, godforsaken, gray (also grey), lonely, lonesome, lugubrious, miserable, morbid, morose, murky, plutonian, saturnine, sepulchral, solemn, somber (or sombre), sullen, sunless, tenebrific, tenebrous, wretched
Synonym Discussion of BLEAK
dismal, dreary, bleak, gloomy, cheerless, desolate mean devoid of cheer or comfort. dismal indicates extreme and utterly depressing gloominess <dismal weather>. dreary, often interchangeable with dismal, emphasizes discouragement resulting from sustained dullness or futility <a dreary job>. bleak suggests chill, dull, and barren characteristics that utterly dishearten <the bleak years of the depression>. gloomy often suggests lack of hope or promise <gloomy war news>. cheerless stresses absence of anything cheering <a drab and cheerless office>. desolate adds an element of utter remoteness or lack of human contact to any already disheartening aspect <a desolate outpost>.
BLEAKNESS Defined for Kids
bleak
adjective \ˈblēk\
bleak·erbleak·est
Definition of BLEAK for Kids
1
: open to wind or weather <a bleak coast>
2
: being cold and raw or cheerless <a bleak wind> <a bleak landscape>
3
: not hopeful or encouraging <The future looks bleak.>
— bleak·ly adverb <stared bleakly>
— bleak·ness noun
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