- exposed and barren; desolate
- cold and raw
- offering little hope or excitement; dismal: a bleak future
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
bleak1 /blik/USA pronunciation
adj., -er, -est.
bleak•ness, n. [uncountable]the bleakness of a long, cold winter.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- bare, cold, and uninviting:the bleak winter landscape.
- without hope or encouragement;
dreary:looking at a bleak future.
bleak•ness, n. [uncountable]the bleakness of a long, cold winter.
bleak1
(blēk),USA pronunciation adj., -er, -est.
bleak′ish, adj.
bleak′ly, adv.
bleak′ness, n.
bleak2 (blēk),USA pronunciation n.
- bare, desolate, and often windswept:a bleak plain.
- cold and piercing;
raw:a bleak wind. - without hope or encouragement;
depressing;
dreary:a bleak future.
- 1300–50; Middle English bleke pale, blend of, blended variants bleche (Old English blǣc) and blake (Old English blāc); both cognate with Old Norse bleikr, German bleich; akin to bleach
bleak′ly, adv.
bleak′ness, n.
- 3. See austere.
bleak2 (blēk),USA pronunciation n.
- Fisha European freshwater fish, Alburnus alburnus, having scales with a silvery pigment that is used in the production of artificial pearls.
- 1400–50; late Middle English bleke, noun, nominal use of bleke pale; see bleak1
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
bleak /bliːk/ adj
bleak /bliːk/ n
- any slender silvery European cyprinid fish of the genus Alburnus, esp A. lucidus, occurring in slow-flowing rivers
'bleak' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
barracks
- Beckett
- Dickens
- gaunt
- Lowry
- misplaced modifier
- wintry
- arctic
- austere
- Bleak House
- blue
- essence d'orient
- godforsaken
- lonely
- unkindly