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.

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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.

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bleak ¹ British  

/ bliːk /

adjective

1. exposed and barren; desolate

2. cold and raw

3. offering little hope or excitement; dismal

   a bleak future

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bleak ² British  

/ bliːk /

noun

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

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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

While the federal government was a drag on growth, and the rest of the fixed investment picture looked bleak, AI stood out in the GDP report.

From Barron's

Somehow the hero would have to make the rocks seem more dangerous, the reef more terrifying, the pale sands bleak and lonely—make the whole island seem like a creepy, scary place.

From Literature

As dark as the novel becomes, “the real darkness of the gulag there was so bleak that I had to cut it out,” the author has said.

From The Wall Street Journal

In the past three decades, the picture has never looked so bleak.

From BBC

Dotting the shoreline is a bleak expanse of detritus: timeworn pumps, tottering derricks, wayward cranes and aging pipelines.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• black
• cheerless
• dark
• dismal
• grim
• hopeless
• sad