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Synonyms
- black
- bleak
- chill
- Cimmerian
- cloudy
- cold
- comfortless
- dark
- darkening
- depressing
- depressive
- desolate
- dire
- disconsolate
- dismal
- drear
- dreary
- dreich [chiefly Scottish]
- elegiac
- elegiacal
- forlorn
- funereal
- gloomy
- glum
- godforsaken
- gray
- grey
- lonely
- lonesome
- lugubrious
- miserable
- morbid
- morose
- murky
- plutonian
- saturnine
- sepulchral
- solemn
- somber
- sombre
- sullen
- sunless
- tenebrific
- tenebrous
- wretched
dismal, dreary, bleak, gloomy, cheerless, desolate mean devoid of cheer or comfort.
dismal indicates extreme and utterly depressing gloominess.
dreary, often interchangeable with dismal, emphasizes discouragement resulting from sustained dullness or futility.
bleak suggests chill, dull, and barren characteristics that utterly dishearten.
gloomy often suggests lack of hope or promise.
cheerless stresses absence of anything cheering.
desolate adds an element of utter remoteness or lack of human contact to any already disheartening aspect.
Examples of cheerless in a Sentence
Word History
1575, in the meaning defined above
Dictionary Entries Near cheerless
Cite this Entry
“Cheerless.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cheerless. Accessed 26 Dec. 2024.
Kids Definition
cheerless
adjective
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