adjective
Other Word Forms
- joylessly adverb
- joylessness noun
Etymology
Origin of joyless
First recorded in 1300–50, joyless is from the Middle English word joyles. See joy, -less
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.
The column contends this response reinforced perceptions that he is a joyless bureaucrat, not a person voters can relate to or trust with state leadership.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 23, 2026
MIAMI—Despite arriving with one of the greatest rosters ever assembled, Team USA found a way to make its time at the World Baseball Classic look rather joyless.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 18, 2026
Leadership sets the tone, and right now that tone feels tense and joyless.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 21, 2026
When I say “budget better,” I don’t mean becoming stricter or joyless about food.
From Salon • Dec. 20, 2025
It was a daring, impulsive move on which the chaplain decided after quarreling with Corporal Whitcomb again and washing down with tepid canteen water his joyless lunch of a Milky Way and Baby Ruth.
From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller
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.
