Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition

Bleak

Bleak

(blēk)
,
Adj.
[OE.
blac
,
bleyke
,
bleche
, AS.
blāc
,
blǣc
, pale, wan; akin to Icel.
bleikr
, Sw.
blek
, Dan.
bleg
, OS.
blēk
, D.
bleek
, OHG.
pleih
, G.
bleich
; all from the root of AS.
blīcan
to shine; akin to OHG.
blīchen
to shine; cf. L.
flagrare
to burn, Gr.
φλέγειν
to burn, shine, Skr.
bhrāj
to shine, and E.
flame
. √98. Cf.
Bleach
,
Blink
,
Flame
.]
1.
Without color; pale; pallid.
[Obs.]
When she came out she looked as pale and as
bleak
as one that were laid out dead.
Foxe.
2.
Desolate and exposed; swept by cold winds.
Wastes too
bleak
to rear
The common growth of earth, the foodful ear.
Wordsworth.
At daybreak, on the
bleak
sea beach.
Longfellow.
3.
Cold and cutting; cheerless;
as, a
bleak
blast
.
–
Bleak′ish
,
Adj.
–
Bleak′ly
,
adv.
–
Bleak′ness
,
Noun.

Bleak

,
Noun.
[From
Bleak
,
Adj.
, cf.
Blay
.]
(Zool.)
A small European river fish (
Leuciscus alburnus
), of the family Cyprinidæ; the blay.
[Written also
blick
.]
☞ The silvery pigment lining the scales of the bleak is used in the manufacture of artificial pearls.
Baird.

Webster 1828 Edition

Bleak

BLEAK

,
Adj.
1.
Pale. [But not often used in this sense, in America, as far as my observations extend.]
2.
Open; vacant; exposed to a free current of air; as a bleak hill or shore. This is the true sense of the word; hence cold and cheerless. A bleak wind is not so named merely from its coldness, but from its blowing without interruption, on a wide waste;at least this is the sense in America. So in Addison. 'Her desolation presents us with nothing but bleak and barren prospects.'

BLEAK

,
Noun.
A small river fish, five or six inches long, so named from its whiteness. It belongs to the genus Cyprinus,and is known to the Londoners by the name of white bait. It is called also by contraction blay.

Definition 2024

bleak

bleak

English

Adjective

bleak ‎(comparative bleaker, superlative bleakest)

  1. Without color; pale; pallid.
    • Foxe
      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.
    • Wordsworth
      Wastes too bleak to rear / The common growth of earth, the foodful ear.
    • Longfellow
      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.
    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.
Translations

Etymology 2

Probably from Old Norse bleikja.

Noun

bleak ‎(plural bleaks)

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

References

  1. ↑ “bleak” in Douglas Harper, Online Etymology Dictionary (2001).

Anagrams

Etymology

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”). 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”).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /bliːk/
  • Rhymes: -iːk

Similar Results