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View synonyms for joyless

joyless

[ joi-lis ]

adjective

  1. without joy or gladness; unhappy:

    the joyless days of the war.

    Synonyms: miserable, dismal, gloomy, cheerless, sad

    Antonyms: joyous

  2. causing no joy or pleasure.


joyless

/ ˈdʒɔɪlɪs /

adjective

  1. having or producing no joy or pleasure
“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


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Derived Forms

  • ˈjoylessly, adverb
  • ˈjoylessness, noun
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Other Words From

  • joyless·ly adverb
  • joyless·ness noun
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Word History and Origins

Origin of joyless1

First recorded in 1300–50, joyless is from the Middle English word joyles. See joy, -less
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Example Sentences

She’s appalled by the “solitary, joyless rectitude” of another enslaved Trojan who insists on covertly burying Priam and performing funeral rites at the grave.

In response to the latter, a new generation of chefs, most notably David Chang, embraced the “lowbrow,” waxing about Popeyes and Domino’s, insisting anyone who didn’t enjoy it was a joyless snob.

From Eater

Boston Red Sox historian Gordon Edes called it “the most joyless World Series ever.”

From Time

I mean, what kind of joyless world are we leaving for our children?

If married life is as boring and joyless as this document, I am glad I am celibate.

The quintessentially American lesson he learns is never to be joyless.

The traffic was as light as if it were some joyless holiday.

The man was like a dark cloud—rather like having a joyless loan officer run the country.

Only that strange bird perched, joyless and alone, over the fire, on the pole from which the kettle hung.

As this joyless impossibility flitted across my mind, I rounded a bleak sand-dune.

After many years of joyless life, the blind grandmother had at last found something to make her happy.

This made the fourth, and the wife of only six months' standing, had a heavy and joyless heart.

The seeming loveless weather that hung over the earth and filled the air, was in joyless harmony with his feelings.

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joyfulJoyner