Bleak | Definition of bleak by Merriam-Webster

Full Definition of BLEAK

1

: exposed and barren and often windswept

2

: cold, raw <a bleak November evening>

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

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Origin of BLEAK

Middle English bleke pale; probably akin to Old English blāc

First Known Use: 1574

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

Antonyms: bright, cheerful, cheering, cheery, comforting, cordial, festive, friendly, gay, heartwarming, sunshiny

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>.