Synonyms of bleak
64 similar words
Another word for bleak is wan. Other synonyms of bleak are livid, pallid, depressing, grim and melancholy.
Synonyms and similar words for bleak
adjectiveWithout color; pale; pallid.
- pasty
- sallow
- ashen
- ashen-facedHaving a pallor (pale face) due to fear or a similar emotion.
- ashy
- blakeYellow, as butter or cheese.
- blanched
- bloodless
- chalky
- exsanguious
- ghastly
- grey
- lividPale, pallid.
- pale
- pallidAppearing weak, pale, or wan.
- wanPale, sickly-looking.
- washed outOf colours: faded, pale.
- white
- whey-facedHaving a pale face, as from fear.
adjectiveUnhappy; cheerless; miserable; emotionally desolate.
- dismalCausing despair; gloomy and bleak.
- lugubriousGloomy, mournful or dismal, especially to an exaggerated degree.
- cheerlessDevoid of cheer; gloomy.
- comfortlessOf a thing: offering no comfort; uncomforting.
- darkConducive to hopelessness; depressing or bleak.
- moroseSullen, gloomy; showing a brooding ill humour.
- depressingCausing depression or sadness.
- desolateDismal or dreary.
- direExpressing bad consequences: dreadful; dismal.
- disconsolateCheerless, dreary.
- dolefulFilled with grief, mournful, bringing feelings of sadness.
- dolesomeCharacterised or marked by sorrow and grief; doleful; dismal; gloomy.
- drearDreary.
- drearisomeCharacterised or marked by dreariness.
- drearyDrab; dark, colorless, or cheerless.
- dreich UK, dialectalBleak, cheerless, dismal, dreary, miserable.
- forlornPitifully sad, wretched, miserable; lonely, especially from feeling abandoned, deserted, forsaken.
- gaylessLacking gaiety; gloomy; somber; drab.
- grayDreary, gloomy, cloudy.
- gloomsomeCharacterised or marked by gloom.
- gloomySuffering from gloom; melancholy; dejected.
- grimDismal and gloomy, cold and forbidding.
- joylessWithout joy; unhappy, sad.
- lack-laughterCheerless; sombre; serious.
- melancholyAffected with great sadness or depression.
- mirthlessLacking mirth; devoid of joy; sad.
- miserableOf the weather, extremely unpleasant due to being cold, wet, overcast, etc.
- no joke
- saturnineOf a setting: depressing, dull, gloomy.
- somber
- sombreDark; gloomy; shadowy, dimly lit.
- spiritlessLacking energy, drive, motivation or emotion. Enervated.
- sullenGloomy; dismal; foreboding.
- sunlessDreary, cheerless.
- uncheerfulNot cheerful.
- uncheeryNot cheery; gloomy, pessimistic.
- unhappy
- unmerryNot merry, the opposite of merry; sad, gloomy.
- wintryChilling, cheerless.
- woeful
- solemn obsoleteCheerless, gloomy, sombre.
nounA small European river fish (Alburnus alburnus), of the family Cyprinidae.
- abletA small fresh-water fish (Alburnus alburnus); the bleak.
- alburnThe bleak, a small European fish with silvery scales.
- blayThe bleak (fish).
- sea chameleon obsoleteThe bleak, a small European river fish (Alburnus alburnus) of the family Cyprinidae.
Meaning of bleak
- adjective Without color; pale; pallid.
- adjective Desolate and exposed; swept by cold winds.
- adjective Unhappy; cheerless; miserable; emotionally desolate.
bleak in other languages
Questions about synonyms of bleak
- What is another word for bleak?
- Bleak has 64 synonyms on Word.ws, such as wan, livid, pallid, depressing, grim, melancholy, dreary and miserable.
- What does bleak mean?
- Bleak means without color; pale; pallid.
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: bleak (page history and authors) and the entries of the words listed. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws grouped the synonyms and antonyms by meaning and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this page: “Synonyms of bleak.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/synonyms/bleak. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.