as in bleak
causing or marked by an atmosphere lacking in cheer
a dank and cheerless castle that was once the site of unspeakable horrors
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Recent Examples of cheerless
Gomez gestured across the street toward 100 Centre Street—the criminal courthouse, a cheerless Art Deco building the color of cinder blocks.
—
Sarah Lustbader, The New Yorker, 10 Mar. 2025
Gomez gestured across the street toward 100 Centre Street—the criminal courthouse, a cheerless Art Deco building the color of cinder blocks.
—Sarah Lustbader, The New Yorker, 10 Mar. 2025
Wedged between the cheerless skyscrapers of Third Avenue and an uncharming stretch of Second, just blocks north of the bro bars of Murray Hill, is a row of nine townhouses.
—Adriane Quinlan, Curbed, 2 Aug. 2024
Election polls may seem cheerless, inscrutable, and wrapped in data and murky terminology.
—W. Joseph Campbell, Fortune, 29 Oct. 2024
Their lives had been expended in cheerless labor, there wills broken, their intelligences numbed.
—Jay Nordlinger, National Review, 5 July 2024
That turned an entertaining exhibition into an awkward and cheerless faux-competitive affair.
—Globe Staff, BostonGlobe.com, 19 July 2022
For all his gloom, Mann was not entirely cheerless.
—Los Angeles Times, 29 July 2021
Lawrence’s was among the last, with a green campus full of trees, but a gray, cheerless interior and food that, in his words, looked regurgitated.
—Sarah Enelow-Snyder, New York Times, 25 Mar. 2020
Sarah Lustbader, The New Yorker, 10 Mar. 2025
Gomez gestured across the street toward 100 Centre Street—the criminal courthouse, a cheerless Art Deco building the color of cinder blocks.
—Sarah Lustbader, The New Yorker, 10 Mar. 2025
Wedged between the cheerless skyscrapers of Third Avenue and an uncharming stretch of Second, just blocks north of the bro bars of Murray Hill, is a row of nine townhouses.
—Adriane Quinlan, Curbed, 2 Aug. 2024
Election polls may seem cheerless, inscrutable, and wrapped in data and murky terminology.
—W. Joseph Campbell, Fortune, 29 Oct. 2024
Their lives had been expended in cheerless labor, there wills broken, their intelligences numbed.
—Jay Nordlinger, National Review, 5 July 2024
That turned an entertaining exhibition into an awkward and cheerless faux-competitive affair.
—Globe Staff, BostonGlobe.com, 19 July 2022
For all his gloom, Mann was not entirely cheerless.
—Los Angeles Times, 29 July 2021
Lawrence’s was among the last, with a green campus full of trees, but a gray, cheerless interior and food that, in his words, looked regurgitated.
—Sarah Enelow-Snyder, New York Times, 25 Mar. 2020
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cheerless
Adjective
-
All of these episodes have different types of endings: There’s bleak to total cliffhanger to sentimental.—
Jackie Strause,
HollywoodReporter,
11 Apr. 2025
-
Some practical frameworks and strategies enable leaders to maintain stability, foster engagement, and position their teams for success even when the economic outlook appears bleak.—
Kara Dennison, SPHR, CPRW, EC,
Forbes.com,
9 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
This keeps us lonely at a time when the loneliness public health crisis is at an all-time high.—
Priya Vulchi,
Time,
9 Apr. 2025
-
Ro, now a police officer, needs help investigating the death 22 years earlier of their classmate, Ricky, killed in a hit-and-run on a lonely county road.—
Mary Ann Grossmann,
Twin Cities,
6 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
A lot of emotions — excitement and rejuvenation about joining a new team but also reflective and somber about his tenure in Boston coming to an end.—
Jordan McPherson,
Miami Herald,
10 Mar. 2025
-
The mood at the event was anything but somber, though.—
Kristen Bateman,
Vogue,
10 Mar. 2025
Adjective
-
And so by some sociologists, camp is thought to be this form of dark humor serving as a coping mechanism to historical marginalization.—
Sam Reed,
Glamour,
15 Apr. 2025
-
Editor’s tip: Niacinamide is a multitasker that blurs the look of dark spots, evens your skin tone, and balances your complexion.—
Christa Joanna Lee,
Allure,
15 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
This Sunday’s finale marks the end of a bizarre, depressing, and sometimes extremely funny show about a family like none other.—
Fran Hoepfner,
Vulture,
14 Apr. 2025
-
That’s been really fascinating and depressing and dispiriting to see.—
Kathleen Walsh,
Glamour,
28 Mar. 2025
Adjective
-
The Memphis rapper began the show with dramatics, rising on a giant platform with her back to the audience as a screen behind her projected the image of a desolate street.—
John Lonsdale,
Rolling Stone,
12 Apr. 2025
-
The food and atmosphere had people from across the city willing to venture to a desolate stretch of Bushwick.—
Jeremy Repanich,
Robb Report,
7 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
More precisely, there was a 60 percent reduction in depressive symptoms, with more than half of the participants exhibiting total remission.—
John Semley,
Rolling Stone,
19 Apr. 2025
-
Alongside other treatments, inositol supplements may help with depressive symptoms in bipolar disorder.—
Mark Gurarie,
Verywell Health,
18 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
Though the film eventually finds its way to Saoirse Ronan’s captivating lead performance as a recovering alcoholic, The Outrun begins underwater, observing a lonesome seal in the North Sea.—
Jake Kring-Schreifels,
TIME,
4 Oct. 2024
-
Alison Krauss will sell no high, lonesome sound before its time.—
Chris Willman,
Variety,
2 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Cheerless.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cheerless. Accessed 24 Apr. 2025.
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