bleaken

English

Etymology

From bleak +‎ -en.

Verb

bleaken (third-person singular simple present bleakens, present participle bleakening, simple past and past participle bleakened)

1. (intransitive) To become bleak
   • 1997, Murray Cox, Alice Theilgaard, Mutative Metaphors in Psychotherapy: The Aeolian Mode, page 133:

     The imagination tends to bleaken in adult life, and rigid categories may reduce perceptual sensitivity. The sense of wonder is diminished and gratitude for experience itself may fail.

   • 2003, Haven Kimmel, The Solace of Leaving Early, page 17:

     The fact of the phrase caused the sky to bleaken and his skin to itch, and by Monday night, when he was unable to sleep, Amos despised his own sensibilities and also despised the world.