Bleak

Definitions: Bleak

Bleak

Adjective

1. Offering little or no hope; "the future looked black"; "prospects were bleak"; "Life in the Aran Islands has always been bleak and difficult"- J.M.Synge; "took a dim view of things".

2. Providing no shelter or sustenance; "bare rocky hills"; "barren lands"; "the bleak treeless regions of the high Andes"; "the desolate surface of the moon"; "a stark landscape".

3. Unpleasantly cold and damp; "bleak winds of the North Atlantic".

Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
 

Date "bleak" was first used: sometime around 1300. (references)

Synonyms: Bleak

Cold

Adjective: cold, cool; chill, chilly; icy; gelid, frigid, algid; fresh, keen, bleak, raw, inclement, bitter, biting, niveous, cutting, nipping, piercing, pinching; clay-cold; starved. (made cold); chilled to the bone, shivering. Verb: aguish, transi de froid; frostbitten, frost-bound, frost-nipped.

Crosswords: Bleak

When Chekhov saw the long winter, he saw a winter bleak and dark and bereft of hope. (Groundhog Day; writing credit: Guy Ritchie)

Kind of a bleak point of view there, isn't it, Marty? (Blood Simple.; writing credit: Ethan Coen; Joel Coen)

Not so much for mankindfor womankind, my record isn't quite so bleak. (Ninotchka; writing credit: Melchior Lengyel; Charles Brackett)

The predicament of Man forced to live in a barren, Godless eternity like a tiny flame flickering in an immense void with nothing but waste, horror and degradation, forming a useless bleak straitjacket in a black absurd cosmos. (Play It Again, Sam; writing credit: Woody Allen)

The bleak breeze blights the bright blue blossom (references; author: unknown)

Bleak Moments (1971)

In the Bleak Midwinter (1995)

Bleak House (1985)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Books

• Bleak House (Modern Library Classics) (reference)

• Bleak House (Volume 1) (reference)

• Bleak Midwinter (reference)

• Bleak Seasons (reference)

• Dickens' Bleak House (Cliffs Notes) (reference)

  (more book examples)

Theater & Movies

• Bleak House (reference)

• Bleak Moments (reference)

  (more DVD examples; more video examples)

Music

• Bleak (reference)

• Bleak Memories (reference)

  (more classical music examples; more popular music examples)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Mr Tate and Vincent Heron stood at the window, talking, jesting, gazing out at the bleak rain, moving their heads.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Health

This bleak picture is countered by the continued, rapid pace of research. (references)

Although the picture can be bleak one for the depressed older person in the community, there are even more immediate treatment needs among those in long-term care settings. (references)

Children

Russia

Although comprehensive statistics are not available, the prospects for children and orphans who are disabled physically or mentally are extremely bleak. (references)

Economic History

Sri Lanka

The outlook for tourism also is bleak. (references)

Slovak Rep

In 1998, the macroeconomic indicators for Slovakia were bleak. (references)

Minorities

India

The Pandit community criticizes bleak physical, educational, and economic conditions in the camps and fears that a negotiated solution giving greater autonomy to the Muslim majority might threaten its own survival in Jammu and Kashmir as a culturally and historically distinctive group. (references)

Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Expression using "bleak": bleak harvest. Additional references.

Beginning with "bleak": bleak-looking.

Afrikaan

onaangenaam (dismal, dreary, ghastly, grisly, horrible, nasty), koud (chilly, cold), donker (dark, dim, dismal, dreary), aaklig (dismal, dreary, ghastly, grisly, hideous, horrible, nasty). (various references)

Albanian

i zhveshur (bald, bare, defoliate, dry, leafless, naked, nude, treeless, unclad, undressed), i vetmuar (cloistered, desolate, eremitic, lone, lonely, lonesome, out of the way, private, privy, recluse, remote, retired, secluded, solitary), i rrahur nga era (weather beaten), i ftohtë (algid, aloof, bloodless, brumous, chilly, cold, cold-livered, cool, cool blooded, crimpy, distant, frigid, frosty, frozen, gelid, glacial, insensitive, offish, Parky, sexless, stilted, stolid, stony, winterly, wintry), i acartë (chill, crisp, sharp), gjuhëz (bolt, clapper, panhandle, promontory, Reed, reed pipe, sole, strip, tenon, tongue). (various references)

Arabic 

‏كئيب (blue, cheerless, damp, dark, dejected, depressed, depressing, depressive, desolate, disconsolate, dismal, dispirited, distressful, distressing, doleful, dolorous, down, downcast, down-hearted, drear, dreary, droopy, dyspeptic, funeral, funereal, gloomy, glum, gray, grey, grief-stricken, grieved, grievous, heavy-hearted, ill, joyless, leaden, lifeless, low-spirited, melancholic, melancholy, moody, mournful, out of spirits, rueful, sad, saddening, somber, sombre, spiritless, sullen, tearful, weary), ‏منعزل (downcast, hideaway, insulate, isolated, lone, lonely, lonesome, private, quiet, recluse, retired, secluded, separate, separated, shy, solitary, withdrawn), ‏مغم (disconsolate, dismal, grievous), ‏معرض (exhibition, exposition, fair, museum, show, showing), ‏السمك الأبيض, ‏أجرد (bald, empty), ‏بارد جدا (frosty, gelid, icy, perishing cold, raw), ‏بارد (boring, chilly, cold, coldish, cool, coolly, dank, distant, flat, glacial, meaningless, phlegmatic, phlegmatical, raw, silly, unfriendly, wintry). (various references)

Bavarian

koid (chilly, cold), dung (dark, dismal, dreary). (various references)

Bulgarian 

студен (algid, asepsis, bloodless, cold, cool, dead, frigid, frosted, frosty, gelid, iced, icy, impassive, inhuman, raw, repulsive, stony, unapproachable, undersexed, unloving, unresponsive, winterly, wintry), тъжен (cheerless, desolate, disconsolate, dismal, distressed, doleful, dull, dusky, elegiac, gloomy, heavy, joyless, lonesome, lugubrious, melancholy, minor, mirthless, mournful, pensive, plaintive, sad, sick, sickly, sorrowful, tristful, wan, wistful, woebegone, woeful), открит (above board, bare, demonstrative, discovered, exposed, free for all, ingenuous, obvious, open, open air, openhearted, outspoken, overt, public, straight, straightforward, transparent, unclosed, uncovered, unscreened, unshaded, wind swept), мрачен (black, cheerless, comfortless, darksome, dejected, depressing, dim, dingy, dismal, drab, drear, dumpish, dusky, forbidding, gaunt, gloomy, glum, grave, grey, grim, grisly, heavy, inhospitable, joyless, low-browed, lowering, melancholy, mirk, morbid, morose, murk, murky, obscure, sad, saturnine, somber, sombre, sullen, sunless, tenebrous, thick, tristful), безцветен (achromatic, colorless, colourless, dim, toneless, white), пуст (desert, deserted, desolate, drear, empty, harsh, inane, infernal, inhospitable, uncouth, uninhabited, vacant, vain, waste, wild, yeasty). (various references)

Chinese 

�'凉. (various references)

Czech

bezútìšný (cheerless, comfortless, desolate, dreary, gaunt, grim, miserable), sychravý, pustý (desert, desolate, dreary, godforsaken, hollow, stark, void, waste, wild), pochmurný (depressing, dismal, gloomy, lugubrious, subdued), holý (bald, bare, hard, naked, stark, undiluted, utter). (various references)

Danish

mørk (dark, dim, dismal, dreary), kold (chilly, cold). (various references)

Dutch

onaangenaam (dismal, dreary, ghastly, grisly, horrible, nasty), naar (about, according as, according to, along, as, by, dismal, dreary, for, ghastly, grisly, horrible, ill, long for, nasty, sick, to, toward, towards, untranslated, unwell, yearn), akelig (dismal, dreary, ghastly, grisly, horrible, nasty). (various references)

Esperanto

senkreskaĵa, senŝirma, melankolia (dismal, dreary, gaunt, melancholy), malvarma (chilly, cold), malmilda, malhela (dark, dismal, dreary), malgaja (dismal, dreary, gaunt, miserable, sad, somber), malagrabla (dismal, dreary, ghastly, grisly, horrible, nasty). (various references)

Faeroese

syrgiligur (dismal, dreary, gaunt, miserable, sad, somber, sullen), kaldur (chilly, cold, frigid), óglaður (dismal, dreary, gaunt, miserable, sad, somber, sullen), óblíður (brutal, gruff, harsh, rough, sour, sullen, surly, unkind, unpleasant). (various references)

Farsi 

متروک (Derelict, Desolate, Lonely), غم افزا (Oppressive), درمعرض بادسرد, بی حفاظ. (various references)

Finnish

salakka. (various references)

French

sombre (black), froid (bleakness). (various references)

Frisian

kâld (chilly, cold), ferdrietlik (dismal, dreary, gaunt, miserable, sad, somber, sullen), drôf (dismal, dreary, gaunt, miserable, sad, somber, sullen), donker (dark, dismal, dreary), aaklik (dismal, dreary, ghastly, grisly, horrible, nasty). (various references)

German

kahl (bald, baldly, bare, barren, featherless, leafless, naked, shaved, shorn, stark), öde (abandoned, barren, barrenness, blasted, bleakly, bleakness, dead, desert, deserted, desolate, dreariness, dreary, dull, empty, flat, gaunt, gauntness, grey, monotony, stuffy, tedious, waste, wasteland), trübe (blear, blearly, bleary, cheerless, cloudy, dark, dim, dimly, dismal, drab, dreary, dull, filmy, gloomy, grey, grim, indistinct, lackluster, lacklustre, misty, muddy, murky, sludge, somberly, turbid, turbid water). (various references)

Greek 

σίρκο. (various references)

Hebrew 

שומם (derelict, desolate, empty, lonely), ע�'מומי (cheerless, distressful, drear, sorrowful, wistful), ע�'ום (cheerless, disconsolate, dismal, doleful, dusky, funereal, gloomy, morose, mournful, rueful, sorrowful, sullen). (various references)

Hungarian

sivár (bald, barren, desolate, dingy, drear, dreary, dusty, gaunt, humdrum, meagre, penurious, sullen), hideg (algid, chill, chilling, chilly, cold, frigid, frosty, icy, metallic, steely, stony, to be frozen to the marrow). (various references)

Icelandic

kaldur (chilly, cold), dapur (dismal, dreary, gaunt, miserable, sad, somber, sullen), óþægilegur (dismal, dreary, ghastly, grisly, horrible, nasty). (various references)

Indonesian

suram (dim, dismal, dreary, gloom, grim), kusam (dingy), dingin (brisk, chill, cold). (various references)

Italian

triste (black, blue, blue-deviled, blue-devilled, cheerless, dark, dejected, disconsolate, dismal, doleful, dreary, dull, dusky, gaunt, gloomy, heavy, hipped, lachrymose, miserable, moody, moped, sad, somber, sombre, sorrowful, sorry, sullen, unhappy, wan, woebegone), freddo (chill, chilliness, chilly, cold, cold-hearted, coldness, cool, nonchalant, raw, stiff, winterly, wintry), spiacevole (disconcerting, dismal, displeasing, dreary, embarassing, evil, ghastly, grisly, horrible, invidious, miserable, nasty, regrettable, sticky, uncomfortable, unpleasant), sgradevole (bad, disagreeable, dismal, distasteful, dreary, ghastly, grisly, horrible, invidious, nasty, objectionable, obnoxious, unpalatable, unpleasant, unsavory, unsavoury, unsightly), scuro (black, dark, deep, dim, dingy, dismal, dreary, dull, overcast, somber, sombre, swarthy), buio (black, dark, darkness, dismal, dreary, gloom, gloominess, murkiness, night, somber, somberness, sombre, sombreness), afflitto (destressed, dismal, dreary, gaunt, miserable, mournful, pained, sad, somber, sorrowful, sorrowing, sorry, sullen, unhappy). (various references)

Japanese Kanji 

霜枯れ (nipped by frost), 蕭条たる (dreary, lonely), �'涼 (desolate), �'寥 (desolate), 索莫たる (desolate, dreary), 索莫 (dreary), 索� たる (desolate, dreary), 索� (dreary), 索寞 (dreary). (various references)

Japanese Katakana 

しょうじょうたる (dreary, lonely), しもがれ (nipped by frost), さくばくたる (desolate, dreary), さくばく (dreary), �"うりょう (advance for manuscript, broad-hearted, collar, comparison, condolence gift, consideration, copy-money, deliberation, desolate, dragon which has already ascended to the heavens, duchy, dukedom, flavoring, general plan, generosity, hidden genius, hill, imperial mausoleum, main points, neck, perfume, principality, proofreading completed, radiation intensity, rain dragon, rations, spices, summary). (various references)

Korean 

황폐한. (various references)

Manx

bleakey. (various references)

Norwegian

sturen (dismal, dreary, gaunt, miserable, sad, somber, sullen). (various references)

Papiamen

tristu (dismal, dreary, gaunt, miserable, sad, somber, sullen), friu (chilly, cold, frigid), desagradabel (dismal, dreary, ghastly, grisly, horrible, nasty). (various references)

Pig Latin

eakblay

Polish

zimny (chilly, cold), smutny (dismal, dreary, gaunt, miserable, sad, somber, sullen). (various references)

Portuguese

frio (chill, chilly, clammy, cold, cold-hearted, coldlivered, coldness, cool, devil may care, dispassionate, edge, freezing, freezing cold, frigid, frost, icerink, ill, impaste, lifeless, nipping, non-com, Parky, passionless, phlegmatic, plodder, pre-cured tread, repulsive, reserved, soulless, tack, tepid, unresponsive, unsympathetic, winterly, wintry). (various references)

Romanian

rece (apathetically, chill, chilly, cold, cold blooded, cold-hearted, coldly, cool, crisp, damp, dank, distant, freezingly, frigid, frosty, glacial, hard-hearted, icily, icy, immovable, impersonal, inhuman, nippy, reserved, snappy, stale, stiff, stony, wintery, wintry). (various references)

Russian 

мрачный (black, cheerless, dark, darksome, dismal, dour, drear, dreary, funereal, gaunt, gloomy, glum, grave, grey, grim, heavy, lugubrious, macabre, mirk, morose, mournful, murk, murky, obscure, saturnine, somber, sombre, sullen, tenebrous, woebegone). (various references)

Scottish

fuar (a. cold, chilly, cold). (various references)

Serbo-Croatian

turoban (dour, drear, dreary, gloomy, morose, overcast), sumoran (adust, atrabilious, dismal, gloomy, mirk, moody, murk, sullen), saraga, pust (desert, empty, indocile, lonely, waste), mračan (dark, darksome, dim, dusky, gloomy, mirk, mirky, murk, murky, obscure, somber, sombre, tenebrous), goletan. (various references)

Spanish

frío (chill, chilly, cold, cool, distant, frigid, frosted, frosting, frosty, Parky, sharp, spent, stiff, uncommunicative), triste (blue, cheerless, dark, depressing, dismal, doleful, dolorous, drear, dreary, gaunt, gloomy, glum, heavy, hipped, joyless, joylessly, mirthless, miserable, mournful, rueful, sad, somber, sorrowful, sorry, sullen, unhappy), lúgubre (dark, dismal, dreary, forbidding, gash, gaunt, ghastly, grisly, horrible, lugubrious, mournful, nasty), horrible (abhorrent, abominable, agonizing, alien, appalling, awful, dire, direful, dirty, dismal, dread, dreary, evil, formidably, foul, frightful, ghastly, grim, grisly, gruesome, hellish, hideous, horrible, horrid, lousy, lurid, moldy, mouldy, nasty, shocking, stinking, terrible, terror, vile, wicked), afligido (afflicted, aggrieved, bereaved, desolate, dismal, distressed, dreary, gaunt, miserable, mournful, pained, sad, somber, sorrowful, sorry, stricken, sullen, troubled). (various references)

Sranan

kowru (chilly, cold). (various references)

Swedish

kulen (raw). (various references)

Tagalog

malungkót (dismal, dreary, gaunt, miserable, sad, somber, sullen), malamíg (chilly, cold). (various references)

Thai

โ�"ยสิ้นหวัง, ยะเยือก. (various references)

Turkish

soğuk (aloof, angular, apathetic, apathetical, calm, chill, chilling, chilly, cold, cool, cryo-, distant, freezing, frigid, frostiness, frosty, frozen, icily, inclement, inhospitable, marble, offish, Parky, phlegmatic, phlegmatical, remote, rigorous, saturnine, standoffish, starchy, stiff, stony, uncompanionable, unfriendly, unsympathetic, wintry). (various references)

Ukranian 

холодний (arctic, chill, chilly, cold, frigid, gelid, icy, nippy, offish), голий (bald, bare, callow, desert, naked, nude, stark), відкритий (barefaced, broad, defenceless, defenseless, obvious, open, opened, open-hearted, overt, patulous, public, sightly, unclosed), верховодка, похмурий (adust, cheerless, dark, darksome, despondent, disconsolate, dismal, drear, dreary, dull, dusky, frowning, gash, gaunt, ghastly, gloomy, glum, grave, gruff, hard-faced, inhospitable, lowering, macabre, mopish, mournful, murk, nightly, obscure, overcast, sable, saturnine, sepulchral, shadowy, stygian, sullen, surly, tenebrous). (various references)

Vietnamese 

trống trải; lạnh lẽo, hoang vắng; ảm đạm dãi gió. (various references)

Welsh

oer (chill, chilly, cold, frigid, sad). (various references)

Yucatec

ke'el (chilly, cold). (various references)

Zulu

-bandayo (chilly, cold). (various references)

acidus, Alburnus alburnus, Alburnus alburnus (Linnaeus), Alburnus lucidus, amarus. (various references)

Derivations

Words beginning with "bleak": bleaker, bleakest, bleakish, bleakly, bleakness, bleaknesses, bleaks. (additional references)

Misspellings

"Bleak" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: balak, Balaki, belah, belak, Beleek, belic, Bellak, Beloki, Bileka, blaaa, Blaeu, Blak, blake, blcak, bleaf, bleah, blean, bleap, bleau, bleek, bleerk, bleeu, bleev, bleik, blerk, Bliecq, blisk, bloak, Bluemaq, Blyxa, bylak. (additional references)

Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits.

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams

-1 letter: able, bake, bale, balk, beak, blae, kale, lake, leak.

-2 letters: alb, ale, bal, bel, elk, kab, kae, kea, lab, lea, lek.

-3 letters: ab, ae, al, ba, be, el, ka, la.

+1 letter: balked, balker, bleaks, keblah.

+2 letters: balkers, balkier, batlike, baulked, bechalk, becloak, blacked, blacken, blacker, blanked, blanker, blanket, bleaker, bleakly, bulkage, keblahs, likable, makable, skiable, takable.

+3 letters: abelmosk, backless, balkiest, balkline, balmlike, bankable, bankerly, barkless, barnlike, baulkier, beadlike, beakless, beaklike, beamlike, beanlike, bearlike, bechalks, becloaks, blackens, blackest, blackleg, blankest, blankets, bleakest, bleakish, blockade, blockage, bluejack, boatlike, bookable, bulkages, bulkhead, clambake, cookable, halfbeak, kabeljou, keelboat, keepable, kickable, kielbasa, kielbasi, kielbasy, kilobase, kissable, knowable, lamblike, likeable, linkable, lockable, makeable, maskable, mockable, packable, scablike, shakable, sinkable, skewbald, slablike, slakable, smokable, takeable, talkable, walkable, workable.

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