bleak

English

Pronunciation

• IPA: /bliːk/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːk

Etymology 1

From Old Norse bleikr (“pale, whitish”). Cognates include Danish bleg and German bleich, unattested Gothic *blaiks; or from Old English blāc

Adjective

bleak (comparative bleaker, superlative bleakest)

1. Without color; pale; pallid.
2. Desolate and exposed; swept by cold winds.
3. unhappy; miserable.

   Downtown Albany felt bleak that February after the divorce.

   A bleak future is in store for you.

Translations

without color

Bulgarian: блед (bg), безцветен (bg) Dutch: bleek (nl), kleurloos (nl) Estonian: kaame, kahvatu, plass Finnish: kalpea (fi) German: farblos (de) Greek: άχρωμος (el) (ákhromos)

Italian: pallido (it) Portuguese: pálido (pt) m., pálida (pt) f. Spanish: Sin color (es) Swedish: blek (sv), färglös (sv) Turkish: solgun (tr), soluk (tr), renksiz (tr)

desolate and exposed

Bulgarian: гол (bg), открит (bg) Dutch: desolaat (nl), guur (nl) Finnish: karu (fi), paljas (fi) German: öde (de), ungeschützt (de)

Greek: έρημος (el) (érimos), παντέρημος (el) (pantérimos) Italian: desolato (it) Portuguese: desolado (pt) Scottish Gaelic: lom (gd)

cheerless

Bulgarian: мрачен (bg), безрадостен (bg) Dutch: vreugdeloos (nl) Finnish: synkkä (fi), kolkko (fi)

German: freudlos (de) Greek: άχαρος (el) (ákharos), θλιβερός (el) (thliverós), άθλιος (el) (áthlios) Scottish Gaelic: gruamach (gd)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

Slovene: bled (1) Spanish: pálido m., yermo m., desolado m.

Etymology 2

Probably from Old Norse bleikja.

Noun

bleak (plural bleaks)

Wikipedia

1. A small European river fish (Alburnus alburnus), of the family Cyprinidae; the blay.

Translations

small European river fish

Bulgarian: уклей (bg) m., блескач (bg) m. Croatian: uklija (hr) f. Dutch: bliek (nl) m. Finnish: salakka (fi) French: ablette (fr) f. German: Laube (de) m., Ukelei (de) m. Italian: alborella (it) f.

Luxembourgish: Aalbes (lb) f. Old English: blǣġe (ang) f. Polish: ukleja (pl) f. Russian: уклейка (ru) (ukl'éjka) f. Spanish: albur (es) m. Swedish: löja (sv)

Anagrams

• Blake
• Kaleb