Bleak Definition

blēk
bleakest, bleaks, bleaker
adjective
bleakest, bleaker
Providing no encouragement; depressing.
A bleak prospect.
American Heritage
Not cheerful; gloomy; dreary.
Webster's New World
Cold and cutting; harsh.
Webster's New World
Exposed to wind and cold; unsheltered; treeless; bare.
Webster's New World
Not promising or hopeful.
A bleak future.
Webster's New World
noun
bleaks
Any of a genus (Alburnus) of small, slender European carp with silvery scales that are used in making artificial pearls.
Webster's New World

Other Word Forms of Bleak

Noun

Singular:
bleak
Plural:
bleaks

Adjective

Base Form:
bleak
Comparative:
bleaker
Superlative:
bleakest

Origin of Bleak

  • From Middle English bleke (also bleche > English 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, wan, livid; bright, shining, glittering, flashing”) and Old Norse bleikr (“pale, whitish”), from Proto-Germanic *blaikaz (“pale, shining”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰlē-, *bʰel- (“to shine”). Cognate with Dutch bleek (“pale, wan, pallid”), Low German blek (“pale”), German bleich (“pale, wan, sallow”), Danish bleg (“pale”), Swedish blek (“pale, pallid”), Faroese bleikur (“pale”), Icelandic bleikur (“pale, pink”).

    From Wiktionary

  • Middle English bleke probably alteration (influenced by bleke pale) of blay from Old English blǣge

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • Middle English bleik pale from Old Norse bleikr white bhel-1 in Indo-European roots

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • Probably from Old Norse bleikja.

    From Wiktionary

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