bleak
adjective /bliːk/
/bliːk/
(comparative bleaker, superlative bleakest)
- (of a situation) not giving any reason to have hope or expect anything good
- a bleak outlook/prospect
- The future looks bleak for the fishing industry.
- The medical prognosis was bleak.
- They faced a financially bleak Christmas.
- Prospects for the industry are extremely bleak.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryverbs- appear
- be
- look
- …
- extremely
- fairly
- very
- …
- (of the weather) cold and unpleasant
- a bleak winter’s day
- (of a place) exposed, empty, or with no pleasant features
- a bleak landscape/hillside/moor
- bleak concrete housing
Extra Examples- The landscape looked bleak and desolate in the rain.
- The report paints an unnecessarily bleak picture of the town.
- Clouds rolled in and the lake took on a bleak and sombre appearance.
- It was a small bleak town near the main highway.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryverbs- be
- look
- seem
- …
- very
- rather
Word OriginOld English blāc ‘shining, white’, or in later use from synonymous Old Norse bleikr; ultimately of Germanic origin and related to bleach.