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
-
This bleak vision of Hollywood makes for a fascinating backdrop.—
Inkoo Kang,
New Yorker,
5 May 2025
-
But Trump and his aides are now actively trying to impede this reporting and intimidate news outlets, creating a bleak backdrop to the UN’s recognition of Saturday as World Press Freedom Day.—
Brian Stelter,
CNN Money,
3 May 2025
Adjective
-
Similarly, a cat was sent to a shelter after 10 years in a home after his owner passed away, leaving him lonely and searching for a new home.—
Alice Gibbs,
MSNBC Newsweek,
17 May 2025
-
Health officials have said the United States is facing a mental health crisis, and in 2023, nearly 1 in 4 adults around the world reported feeling fairly or very lonely.—
Madeline Holcombe,
CNN Money,
17 May 2025
Adjective
-
Rayburn partners up with local sheriff Alice Gustafson (Annabelle Wallis) in a somber yet tumultuous pursuit of a killer who uses brutal traps and primal tactics.—
Travis Bean,
Forbes.com,
17 May 2025
-
That’s the question writer-director Ari Aster’s somber comedy-Western Eddington, playing in competition here at the Cannes Film Festival, appears to be asking.—
Stephanie Zacharek,
Time,
17 May 2025
Adjective
-
Infected roots turn unnaturally dark and mushy, or even weep.—
Brandee Gruener,
Southern Living,
10 May 2025
-
Harry, meanwhile, channeled the country theme of the show by wearing his cowboy hat with dark jeans and a gray shirt over a black top.—
Charlotte Phillipp,
People.com,
10 May 2025
Adjective
-
Instead, Chernow devotes a hefty portion of his 1,039 pages (excluding notes) to Twain’s personal tribulations, a depressing series of bungles and calamities starting in the author’s middle age.—
Graeme Wood,
The Atlantic,
9 May 2025
-
The lack of business on Sunday and Monday nights could be especially depressing.—
Stephanie Breijo,
Los Angeles Times,
8 May 2025
Adjective
-
A lot of people have this idea of the north as being cold and desolate, and maybe people, once upon a time, lived up there, but don't anymore.—
Dana Feldman,
Forbes.com,
22 Apr. 2025
-
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
Adjective
-
Weaker but still significant effects were observed in those without depressive symptoms.—
Paul McClure
May 14,
New Atlas,
14 May 2025
-
This makes sense because a recent study found that 59% of yoga participants had reduced depressive symptoms after practicing heated yoga weekly for just 8 weeks.—
Dominique Fluker,
Essence,
9 May 2025
Adjective
-
The quintet collides influences — flourishes of glitchy industrial electronic flourishes, lonesome country-western instrumentation, ornate chamber pop — and tinker with all sorts of pop-rock conventions.—
Jonathan Bernstein,
Rolling Stone,
26 Mar. 2025
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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
Cite this Entry
“Cheerless.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cheerless. Accessed 22 May. 2025.
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