Dictionary

cheerless en · ADJ

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Etymology

Etymology tree English cheer Proto-Indo-European *lewh₁- Proto-Indo-European *lewHs-der. Proto-Germanic *leusaną Proto-Germanic *lausaz Proto-Germanic *-lausaz Proto-West Germanic *-laus Old English -lēas Middle English -les English -less English cheerless From cheer + -less.

Meanings

Devoid of cheer; gloomy.
- Men, women and children work together seven days in the week in these cheerless tenements to make a living for the family, from the break of day till far into the night. 1890, Jacob A[ugust] Riis, “The Bohemians—Tenement-house Cigarmaking”, in How the Other Half Lives: Studies among the Tenements of New York, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, →OCLC, page 138:
- This is itself a cheerless spot, particularly on a rainy day, when, overshadowed by the great massif of rock that towers in the background, and surrounded by the grey and cheerless quarries, it has a depressing character much in contrast with the green verdure encountered on the northern end of this interesting branch line. 1954 August, H. M. Madgwick, “The Blaenau Festiniog Tunnel”, in Railway Magazine, page 569:
- The railway then follows the widening estuary of the river, which at high tide has the appearance of a lake, but at low water presents a rather cheerless expanse of dark mud. 1953 February, H. A. Vallance, “To Brighton through the Shoreham Gap”, in Railway Magazine, page 82:
- I then went on, beginning with the rise and progress of the primitive religions, and coming down to the various religions of the present time, during which time I labored to show Queequeg that all these Lents, Ramadans, and prolonged ham-squattings in cold, cheerless rooms were stark nonsense; […] 1851 November 14, Herman Melville, “The Ramadan”, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC, page 96:

Forms

Spelling	Features	Labels	Source
more cheerless	Degree=Cmp		lexicographic
most cheerless	Degree=Sup		lexicographic

Translations (3)

bg безрадостен (Devoid of cheer) · hi अमोद (Devoid of cheer) · ota آجی (Devoid of cheer)

cheerless en · ADJ

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