bleak

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bliːk/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːk

Etymology 1

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Middle English bleke (also bleche > English bleach (“pale, bleak”)), and bleike (due to Old Norse), and earlier (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Middle English blak, blac (“pale, wan”), from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Old English blǣc, blǣċ, blāc (“bleak, pale, pallid, wan, livid; bright, shining, glittering, flashing”) and (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Old Norse bleikr (“pale, whitish”), from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Proto-Germanic *blaikaz (“pale, shining”). Cognate with Dutch bleek (“pale, wan, pallid”), Low German blek (“pale”), German bleich (“pale, wan, sallow”), Danish bleg (“pale”), Swedish blek (“pale, pallid”), Norwegian bleik (“pale”), Faroese bleikur (“pale”), Icelandic bleikur (“pale, pink”).

Adjective

bleak (comparative bleaker, superlative bleakest)

1. Without color; pale; pallid.
   • (Can we date this quote by Foxe and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)

     When she came out she looked as pale and as bleak as one that were laid out dead.

2. Desolate and exposed; swept by cold winds.
   • (Can we date this quote by Wordsworth and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)

     Wastes too bleak to rear / The common growth of earth, the foodful ear.

   • (Can we date this quote by Longfellow and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)

     at daybreak, on the bleak sea beach

   A bleak and bare rock.

   They escaped across the bleak landscape.

   A bleak, crater-pocked moonscape.

   We hiked across open meadows and climbed bleak mountains.

3. Unhappy; cheerless; miserable; emotionally desolate.
   • 2019 May 19, Alex McLevy, “The final Game Of Thrones brings a pensive but simple meditation about stories (newbies)”, in The A.V. Club‎^[1]:

     Dany didn’t necessarily have to die, but letting her live would’ve been an assessment of humanity so bleak that even George R.R. Martin, it seems, wants to hope for something better.

   Downtown Albany felt bleak that February after the divorce.

   A bleak future is in store for you.

   The news is bleak.

   The survey paints a bleak picture.

Synonyms

• (sickly pale): see also Thesaurus:pallid

Derived terms

• bleaken

Translations

without color

• Bulgarian: блед (bg) (bled), безцветен (bg) (bezcveten)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 苍白 (zh) (cāngbái)

• Dutch: bleek (nl), kleurloos (nl)
• Estonian: kaame, kahvatu, plass
• Finnish: kalpea (fi), väritön (fi)
• French: morne (fr), terne (fr)
• Georgian: უფერული (uperuli), ფერმკრთალი (permḳrtali)
• German: farblos (de), bleich (de), ausgeblichen
• Greek: άχρωμος (el) m (áchromos)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Interlingue:
• Italian: pallido (it), incolore (it)
• Portuguese: pálido (pt) m, pálida (pt) f
• Romanian: palid (ro), spălăcit (ro)
• Russian: бесцве́тный (ru) (bescvétnyj), бле́дный (ru) (blédnyj)
• Spanish: sin color (es), pálido (es)
• Swedish: blek (sv), färglös (sv)
• Turkish: solgun (tr), soluk (tr), renksiz (tr)

desolate and exposed

• Bulgarian: гол (bg) (gol), открит (bg) (otkrit)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 荒凉 (zh) (huāngliáng)

• Dutch: desolaat (nl), guur (nl)
• Finnish: karu (fi), paljas (fi)
• German: öde (de), ungeschützt (de), trostlos (de), kahl (de), karg (de), desolat (de)
• Greek: έρημος (el) m (érimos), ψυχρός (el) m (psychrós)
• Irish: argail
• Italian: desolato (it)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Manx: meayl
• Maori: hāhā, mōwai, hahore, tūhea
• Portuguese: desolado
• Romanian: pustiu (ro)
• Russian: го́лый (ru) (gólyj), откры́тый (ru) (otkrýtyj), незащищённый (ru) (nezaščiščónnyj)
• Scottish Gaelic: lom
• Spanish: desolado (es), yermo (es)

cheerless

• Bulgarian: мрачен (bg) (mračen), безрадостен (bg) (bezradosten)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 黯淡 (zh) (àndàn), 惨淡 (zh) (cǎndàn)

• Dutch: vreugdeloos (nl)
• Finnish: synkkä (fi), kolkko (fi)
• French: morne (fr)
• German: freudlos (de), trostlos (de), trübe (de), düster (de), desolat (de)
• Greek: άχαρος (el) m (ácharos), θλιβερός (el) m (thliverós), άθλιος (el) m (áthlios)
• Italian: triste (it), misero (it), infelice (it)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Maori: mōkinokino
• Portuguese: desanimado (pt)
• Romanian: palid (ro), dezolat (ro), trist (ro)
• Russian: мра́чный (ru) (mráčnyj), безра́достный (ru) (bezrádostnyj)
• Scottish Gaelic: gruamach
• Spanish: sin alegría (es), amargado (es)
• Swedish: dyster (sv)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• (deprecated template usage) Slovene: ^{(please verify)} bled (sl) (1)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

Etymology 2

Probably from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Old Norse bleikja.

Noun

bleak (plural bleaks or bleak)

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

Synonyms

• alburn
• blay

Translations

small European river fish

• Bulgarian: уклей m (uklej), блескач m (bleskač)
• Dutch: bliek (nl) m
• Estonian: viidikas
• Finnish: salakka (fi)
• French: ablette (fr) f
• German: Laube (de) m, Ukelei (de) m
• Greek: σίρκο n (sírko)
• Italian: alborella f, alburno (it) m
• Latin: alburnus m, albica f (Mediaeval)
• Latvian: vīķe f
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Luxembourgish: Aalbes (lb) f
• Old English: blǣġe f
• Polish: ukleja (pl) f
• Portuguese: alburnete m
• Russian: укле́йка (ru) f (ukléjka)
• Serbo-Croatian: uklija (sh) f
• Spanish: albur (es) m
• Swedish: löja (sv) c
• Ukrainian: верхово́дка f (verxovódka)

Anagrams

• Balke, Blake, Kaleb, blake