bleak
English · Thesaurus
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bleak¹
- /bliːk/
Rhymes with -iːk
Where it comes from
From Middle English bleke (also bleche, whence the English doublet bleach (“pale, bleak”)), and bleike (due to Old Norse), and earlier Middle English blak, blac (“pale, wan”), from Old English blǣc, blǣċ, blāc (“bleak, pale, pallid”) and Old Norse bleikr (“pale, whitish”), all from Proto-Germanic *blaikaz (“pale, shining”).
Cognate with Dutch bleek (“pale, wan, pallid”), Low German blek (“pale”), German bleich (“pale, wan, sallow”), Danish bleg (“pale”), Swedish blek (“pale, pallid”), Norwegian Bokmål bleik, blek (“pale”), Norwegian Nynorsk bleik (“pale”), Faroese bleikur (“pale”), Icelandic bleikur (“pale, pink”).
adjective bleaker · bleakest
-
Without color; pale; pallid.
When she came out she looked as pale and as bleak as one that were laid out dead.
Similar: pasty, sallow, ashen, ashen-faced, ashy, blake, blanched, bleak, bloodless, chalky, exsanguious, ghastly
- Desolate and exposed; swept by cold winds. a bleak and bare rock
-
Unhappy; cheerless; miserable; emotionally desolate.
Downtown Albany felt bleak that February after the divorce.
Similar: dismal, lugubrious, cheerless, comfortless, bleak, dark, morose, depressing, desolate, dire, disconsolate, doleful
bleak²
- /bliːk/
Rhymes with -iːk
Where it comes from
From Middle English bleke (“small river fish, bleak, blay”), perhaps an alteration (due to Old English blǣc (“bright”) or Old Norse bleikja) of Old English blǣġe (“bleak, blay, gudgeon”); or perhaps from a diminutive of Middle English *bleye (“blay”), equivalent to blay + -ock or blay + -kin. See blay.
noun bleaks · bleak
-
A small European river fish (Alburnus alburnus), of the family Cyprinidae.
Similar: sea chameleon, ablet, alburn, blay
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: hopeless, desolate, black, stark, barren, inhospitable, bare, dim, raw, cutting, cold, sombre, gloomy, faint, grim, somber
Translations
Every language
adj without color
| Español | sin color, pálido |
|---|---|
| 中文 | 苍白 cāngbái |
| Português | pálido |
| Français | morne, terne |
| Deutsch | farblos, bleich, ausgeblichen |
| Italiano | pallido, incolore |
| Ελληνικά | άχρωμος áchromos |
| Română | palid, spălăcit |
| Русский | бесцве́тный bescvétnyj, бле́дный blédnyj |
adj desolate and exposed
| Español | desolado, yermo |
|---|---|
| 中文 | 荒凉 huāngliáng, 冷清 lěngqīng |
| Português | desolado |
| Deutsch | öde, ungeschützt, trostlos, kahl, karg, desolat |
| Italiano | desolato |
| Ελληνικά | έρημος érimos, ψυχρός psychrós |
| Română | pustiu |
| Русский | го́лый gólyj, откры́тый otkrýtyj, незащищённый nezaščiščónnyj |
adj cheerless
| Español | sin alegría, amargado |
|---|---|
| 中文 | 黯淡 àndàn, 惨淡 cǎndàn, 淒涼 /凄凉 qīliáng |
| Português | desanimado |
| Français | morne |
| Deutsch | freudlos, trostlos, trübe, düster, desolat |
| Italiano | triste, misero, infelice |
| Ελληνικά | άχαρος ácharos, θλιβερός thliverós, άθλιος áthlios |
| Română | palid, dezolat, trist |
| Русский | мра́чный mráčnyj, безра́достный bezrádostnyj |
Talk about this word "bleak." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/bleak. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. bleak. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/bleak "bleak." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/bleak.Cite this
@misc{bleak_2026,
title = {bleak},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/bleak},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
