bleak
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
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English [edit]
Pronunciation [edit]
Etymology 1 [edit]
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”)[1], 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”).
Adjective [edit]
bleak (comparative bleaker, superlative bleakest)
- Without color; pale; pallid.
- Desolate and exposed; swept by cold winds.
- Unhappy; cheerless; miserable.
- Downtown Albany felt bleak that February after the divorce.
- A bleak future is in store for you.
Translations [edit]
without color
desolate and exposed
cheerless
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Etymology 2 [edit]
Probably from Old Norse bleikja.
Noun [edit]
bleak (plural bleaks)
- A small European river fish (Alburnus alburnus), of the family Cyprinidae.
Synonyms [edit]
Translations [edit]
small European river fish
