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Synonyms

bleak

1 American  
[bleek] / blik /

adjective

bleaker, bleakest

  1. bare, desolate, and often windswept.

    a bleak plain.

  2. cold and piercing; raw.

    a bleak wind.

  3. without hope or encouragement; depressing; dreary.

    a bleak future.
bleak 2 American  
[bleek] / blik /

noun

  1. a European freshwater fish, Alburnus alburnus, having scales with a silvery pigment that is used in the production of artificial pearls.

bleak 1 British  
/ bliːk /

adjective

  1. exposed and barren; desolate

  2. cold and raw

  3. offering little hope or excitement; dismal

    a bleak future
"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
bleak 2 British  
/ bliːk /

noun

  1. any slender silvery European cyprinid fish of the genus Alburnus , esp A. lucidus , occurring in slow-flowing rivers

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Related Words

See austere.

Other Word Forms

  • bleakish adjective
  • bleakly adverb
  • bleakness noun

Etymology

Origin of bleak1

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English bleke “pale,” blend of variants bleche ( Old English blǣc ) and blake ( Old English blāc ); both cognate with Old Norse bleikr, German bleich; akin to bleach

Origin of bleak2

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English bleke, noun use of bleke “pale”; bleak 1

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Camus’s vision may have been a bleak and arid one, but it retains its awful potency.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 2, 2026

These are some of the places around Los Angeles that still keep his inner comics-nerd satiated and musical curiosity fed — no matter what bleak news is blowing up his phone.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 30, 2026

It is a thoroughly depressing and bleak conclusion to what is so often depicted as a time of expectation, of excitement even, and hope.

From BBC • Mar. 24, 2026

There is a bleak sameness to their contents—desperate pleas to be spared as innocents, loyal to the party and wrongly accused.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 19, 2026

The squirrels would be collecting them all very soon, Miss Honey said, and storing them away carefully for the bleak months ahead.

From "Matilda" by Roald Dahl

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.