bleak
1 Americanadjective
-
bare, desolate, and often windswept.
a bleak plain.
-
cold and piercing; raw.
a bleak wind.
-
without hope or encouragement; depressing; dreary.
a bleak future.
noun
adjective
-
exposed and barren; desolate
-
cold and raw
-
offering little hope or excitement; dismal
a bleak future
noun
Synonym Usage
See austere.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Adjectives
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”; see bleak 1
Explanation
Something that is bleak is gloomy and depressing. If it's raining and dark, you might describe the night as bleak. If you have looked for work and no one will hire you, you could describe your prospects as bleak. If you and the ten people sharing your lifeboat have been adrift for ten days and are down to your last cracker, your situation is bleak. A near synonym is dismal. Bleak is from Middle English bleik, from Old Norse bleikr, "white, pale." This word is related to the English word bleach.
Vocabulary lists containing bleak
"The Raven" by Edgar Allan Poe
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"The Most Dangerous Game" by Richard Connell
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List 6
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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.
See Examples For:
Facing a bleak prognosis, he went into hurry-up mode to provide security for his family — and information for his readers — as best he could in the time he had left.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 17, 2026
It's been a bleak week for the prince and today only added to that sense of chaos.
From BBC ● Jul. 7, 2026
While these are in many respects traditional songs, this is music that hits you on a subliminal level, where a series of major traumas and minor victories fuse into a bleak worldview streaked with hope.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026
As with many climate change stories, it can all sound pretty bleak.
From Salon ● Jun. 24, 2026
A hundred years ago there was a hotel on this bleak, forbidding spot, and its wind-worn foundations are still a landmark—I have seen it in photographs—but I have no recollection of it now.
From "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson
We once caught in an hour 6000 fishes like bleaks.
From A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels — Volume 08 by Kerr, Robert
Though China’s official urban unemployment rate has remained steady at around 5%, some economists believe the actual labor-market picture is bleaker.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 16, 2026
Last month, the multilateral lender's World Economic Outlook predicted global growth would drop to 3.1 percent in 2026 in its "reference" scenario, but warned of a bleaker outlook if the war were to drag on.
From Barron's ● May 14, 2026
However, Arsenal themselves have a much bleaker record as they've been top at Christmas four times before but have never gone on to lift the trophy.
From BBC ● Dec. 20, 2025
But the signs are that the near future, at least, will be economically bleaker than the present.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 6, 2025
“The situation is undoubtedly bleaker now,” they wrote.
From "Drama High" by Michael Sokolove
When I graduated from UC–Berkeley with my “useless” comparative literature degree, into one of the bleakest job markets in recent American memory, I thought to myself, There must be a loophole somewhere.
From Slate ● Mar. 20, 2026
Instead, millions of university graduates are entering the bleakest job market in years.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 11, 2026
Since this scene plays more than halfway through the second season in an episode called “Last Drink,” we recognize this as the bleakest version of “famous last words.”
From Salon ● Dec. 14, 2024
Just when the divisions seemed bleakest, I ran into Jim Kusters, a retiree and Trump supporter who was sitting for breakfast in Mt.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 20, 2024
June and July were the bleakest months on Robben Island.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
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.
