Synonyms for bleak
- adjective
- noun
Most common
desolate grim dreary depressing raw penetrating stark sallow
Synonyms by meaning
Adjective
1. Desolate — unhappy; cheerless; miserable; emotionally desolate
desolate, grim, dreary, depressing, gloomy, cheerless, dismal, cold, dark, forlorn, somber US, sombre UK, hopeless, dire, melancholy, wintry, joyless, lugubrious, grey UK, gray US, wind-swept, unhappy, chilly, woeful
Noun
blay, ablet, alburn, sea chameleon dated
Definitions
- adj. 1
Without color; pale; pallid.
- adj. 2
Unhappy; cheerless; miserable; emotionally desolate.
The survey paints a bleak picture.
- adj. 3
Desolate and exposed; swept by cold winds.
a bleak, crater-pocked moonscape
- n. 1
A small European river fish (Alburnus alburnus), of the family Cyprinidae.
Forms
- Plural
- bleaks → blays, ablets, alburns…
Example sentences
- depressing Recently, you've been depressing to hang out with.
- hopeless Lee did not agree that the situation was hopeless.
- dreary I've got to go to another dreary meeting tomorrow.
- somber We heard somber hollow sounds from the cave.
- dim In the dim light, Tom saw someone approaching him.
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| bleak | rising | |
| depressing | steady | |
| hopeless | rising | |
| dreary | rising | |
| somber | rising | |
| dim | rising |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 3 letters
- raw1, dim1
- 4 letters
- cold1, dark1, grey1, gray1, bare1, grim1, dire1, blay1
- 5 letters
- black1, stark1, pasty, ablet
- 6 letters
- biting2, chilly2, gloomy2, barren2, dismal2, dreary2, somber2, sombre, wintry2, woeful2, sallow, alburn
- 7 letters
- cutting2, exposed2, unhappy3, forlorn2, nipping2, joyless
- 8 letters
- hopeless2, piercing2, desolate3
- 9 letters
- cheerless
- 10 letters
- depressing3, melancholy4, lugubrious4
- 11 letters
- penetrating4
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (biting2 = 2 syllables).