bleak en · ADJ · etymology 1
Pronunciation
- (US) audio
- /bliːk/
Etymology
From Middle English bleke (also bleche, whence the English doublet bleach (“pale, bleak”)), and bleike (due to Old Norse), and earlier Middle English blak, blac (“pale, wan”), from Old English blǣc, blǣċ, blāc (“bleak, pale, pallid”) and Old Norse bleikr (“pale, whitish”), all from Proto-Germanic *blaikaz (“pale, shining”). Cognate with Dutch bleek (“pale, wan, pallid”), Low German blek (“pale”), German bleich (“pale, wan, sallow”), Danish bleg (“pale”), Swedish blek (“pale, pallid”), Norwegian Bokmål bleik, blek (“pale”), Norwegian Nynorsk bleik (“pale”), Faroese bleikur (“pale”), Icelandic bleikur (“pale, pink”).
Meanings
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Without color; pale; pallid.
When she came out she looked as pale and as bleak as one that were laid out dead.
1563 March 30 (Gregorian calendar), John Foxe, Actes and Monuments of These Latter and Perillous Dayes, […], London: […] Iohn Day, […], →OCLC:
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Desolate and exposed; swept by cold winds.
a bleak and bare rock
Wastes too bleak to rear / The common growth of earth, the foodful ear.
1793, William Wordsworth, Descriptive Sketches:At daybreak, on the bleak sea-beach, / A fisherman stood aghast, / To see the form of a maiden fair, / Lashed close to a drifting mast.
1840 January 10, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, “[Ballads.] w:The Wreck of the Hesperus.”, in Ballads and Other Poems, 2nd edition, Cambridge, Mass.: […] John Owen, published 1842, →OCLC, stanza 20, page 47:We hiked across open meadows and climbed bleak mountains.
a bleak, crater-pocked moonscape
They escaped across the bleak landscape.
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Unhappy; cheerless; miserable; emotionally desolate.
A bleak future is in store for you.
Downtown Albany felt bleak that February after the divorce.
But the bleakest Utopia of all, the very first of the Unutopias, had come from Wells long before that.
1978, The Spectator, volume 240, number 1, page 25:The industrial shitscape of Los Angeles gave way to something even bleaker as I passed out of lonely Riverside into the wide-open range of horse stables and twisted trees and spinning giant wind turbines outside of Indio.
2011, Jesse James, American Outlaw, page 331:The survey paints a bleak picture.
Dany didn’t necessarily have to die, but letting her live would’ve been an assessment of humanity so bleak that even George R.R. Martin, it seems, wants to hope for something better.
2019 May 19, Alex McLevy, “The final Game Of Thrones brings a pensive but simple meditation about stories (newbies)”, in The A.V. Club, archived from the original on 22 May 2019:The news is bleak.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| bleakest | Degree=Sup | lexicographic | |
| bleaker | Degree=Cmp | lexicographic |
Deriveds
unbleak · bleakness · bleakonomics · bleakly · bleaken · bleaksome · bleakish
Synonyms
dreich · sunless · pallid · woeful · grim · drearisome · bleak · white · melancholy · sombre · depressing · ashen-faced · uncheery · mirthless · dark · disconsolate · ashy · sallow · joyless · chalky · gayless · gray · dismal · solemn · lack-laughter · bleak · pasty · sallow · morose · saturnine · gloomsome · pale · livid · wan · no joke · dolesome · dismal · somber · cheerless · ashen · gloomy · dreary · miserable · grey · unhappy · uncheerful · ghastly · forlorn · desolate · washed out · unmerry · comfortless · wintry · whey-faced · blake · pasty · sullen · dire · exsanguious · doleful · drear · lugubrious · bloodless · spiritless · blanched · lugubrious
Translations (128)
el άχρωμος (without color) · el θλιβερός (cheerless) · cs neradostný (cheerless) · tr kara (cheerless) · da bleg (without color) · mi mōkinokino (cheerless) · tr kasvetli (cheerless) · de farblos (without color) · kk жабырқаңқы (cheerless) · bg гол (desolate and exposed) · it misero (cheerless) · mi hahore (desolate and exposed) · kk құлазыған (cheerless) · fi kalpea (without color) · de ungeschützt (desolate and exposed) · ro palid (without color) · de desolat (desolate and exposed) · es sin alegría (cheerless) · cmn 黯淡 (cheerless) · gv meayl (desolate and exposed) · pt desanimado (cheerless) · et kahvatu (without color) · ru го́лый (desolate and exposed) · hy դժգույն (without color) · es amargado (cheerless) · es yermo (desolate and exposed) · it triste (cheerless) · cmn 惨淡 (cheerless) · scn ngustiatu (desolate and exposed) · bg блед (without color) · ca amargat (cheerless) · kk көңілсіз (cheerless) · de karg (desolate and exposed) · ru мра́чный (cheerless) · uk бліди́й (without color) · cs bledý (without color) · sv dyster (cheerless) · cs pochmurný (cheerless) · kk сүреңсіз (desolate and exposed) · ca erm (desolate and exposed) · it desolato (desolate and exposed) · fr morne (cheerless) · hy դժգույն (cheerless) · tr soluk (without color) · de trostlos (desolate and exposed) · fr terne (without color) · de desolat (cheerless) · ru безра́достный (cheerless) · pt pálido (without color) · bg безрадостен (cheerless) · el άθλιος (cheerless) · pt desolado (desolate and exposed) · ru незащищённый (desolate and exposed) · ga dearóil (cheerless) · mi tūhea (desolate and exposed) · scn mischinu (cheerless) · de ausgeblichen (without color) · tr solgun (without color) · nl kleurloos (without color) · scn sghiancatu (without color) · bg мрачен (cheerless) · mi mōwai (desolate and exposed) · cs nehostinný (desolate and exposed) · ro palid (cheerless) · ro spălăcit (without color) · ru бесцве́тный (without color) · de bleich (without color) · gd lom (desolate and exposed) · bg открит (desolate and exposed) · es pálido (without color) · ru бле́дный (without color) · ga argail (desolate and exposed) · nl bleek (without color) · cmn 淒涼 /凄凉 (cheerless) · nl desolaat (desolate and exposed) · fi väritön (without color) · es sin color (without color) · ca pansit (cheerless) · de trostlos (cheerless) · ka დაუცველი (desolate and exposed) · cs neutěšený (desolate and exposed) · et plass (without color) · mi hāhā (desolate and exposed) · ro dezolat (cheerless) · hy դժգույն (desolate and exposed) · cs bezútěšný (cheerless) · ga dearóil (desolate and exposed) · it pallido (without color) · tr renksiz (without color) · gd gruamach (cheerless) · ka ღია (desolate and exposed) · scn nfilici (cheerless) · ka უფერული (without color) · it incolore (without color) · el άχαρος (cheerless) · et kaame (without color) · ka ფერმკრთალი (without color) · cmn 苍白 (without color) · scn sbiancatu (without color) · de freudlos (cheerless) · fi paljas (desolate and exposed) · cmn 荒凉 (desolate and exposed) · el ψυχρός (desolate and exposed) · ro trist (cheerless) · bg безцветен (without color) · fi karu (desolate and exposed) · ru откры́тый (desolate and exposed) · cmn 冷清 (desolate and exposed) · ro pustiu (desolate and exposed) · el έρημος (desolate and exposed) · de öde (desolate and exposed) · sv färglös (without color) · nl guur (desolate and exposed) · fi synkkä (cheerless) · nl vreugdeloos (cheerless) · fr morne (without color) · de kahl (desolate and exposed) · de düster (cheerless) · it infelice (cheerless) · cs pustý (desolate and exposed) · scn giarnu (without color) · ca pàl·lid (without color) · ca desolat (desolate and exposed) · fi kolkko (cheerless) · ka მოტიტვლებული (desolate and exposed) · sv blek (without color) · es desolado (desolate and exposed) · de trübe (cheerless)