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Definition of bleak adjective from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

bleak

adjective
 
/bliːk/
 
/bliːk/
(comparative bleaker, superlative bleakest)
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  1. (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
    adverb
    • extremely
    • fairly
    • very
    See full entry
  2. (of the weather) cold and unpleasant
    • a bleak winter’s day
    Topics Weatherc2
  3. (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
    adverb
    • very
    • rather
    See full entry
  4. Word OriginOld English blāc ‘shining, white’, or in later use from synonymous Old Norse bleikr; ultimately of Germanic origin and related to bleach.
See bleak in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee bleak in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic English

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