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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of cheerless
The storm let up before daybreak, but the morning was gray and cheerless with a cold wind.
—
Elwyn "bud" Myers, Outdoor Life, 11 Mar. 2026
This episode is disappointingly cheerless overall—it’s not frosted, tinsely, glowing, silver with bells and mist, or snowy.
—Jenny Singer, Glamour, 3 Nov. 2025
For three days, things were cheerless for Courtney Williams.
—Mike Cook, Twin Cities, 28 May 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
Election polls may seem cheerless, inscrutable, and wrapped in data and murky terminology.
—W. Joseph Campbell, Fortune, 29 Oct. 2024
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
Their lives had been expended in cheerless labor, there wills broken, their intelligences numbed.
—Jay Nordlinger, National Review, 5 July 2024
Elwyn "bud" Myers, Outdoor Life, 11 Mar. 2026
This episode is disappointingly cheerless overall—it’s not frosted, tinsely, glowing, silver with bells and mist, or snowy.
—Jenny Singer, Glamour, 3 Nov. 2025
For three days, things were cheerless for Courtney Williams.
—Mike Cook, Twin Cities, 28 May 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
Election polls may seem cheerless, inscrutable, and wrapped in data and murky terminology.
—W. Joseph Campbell, Fortune, 29 Oct. 2024
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
Their lives had been expended in cheerless labor, there wills broken, their intelligences numbed.
—Jay Nordlinger, National Review, 5 July 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cheerless
Adjective
-
In other words, the status quo of ed tech is bleak.—
Will Oremus,
The Atlantic,
16 May 2026
-
Like its gruesome predecessors, his latest full-length work features adorably designed anthropomorphic animals (and mushrooms) navigating bleak realities and confronting existentialist concerns.—
Carlos Aguilar,
Variety,
15 May 2026
Adjective
-
At its center is Sam, a lonely luthier with the extraordinary ability to hear the constant noise of other people’s minds.—
JD Linville,
Variety,
18 May 2026
-
Criminals looking to establish online romantic relations with lonely seniors before bleeding their bank accounts dry.—
Davey Winder,
Forbes.com,
16 May 2026
Adjective
-
The Atlanta Braves are back home Tuesday night for their game against the Chicago Cubs, but there will be a somber energy as fans fill seats in Truist Park.—
Irene Wright,
USA Today,
12 May 2026
-
Despite the somber mood, some trustees were not convinced that their fate was sealed.—
Jennah Pendleton,
Sacbee.com,
8 May 2026
Adjective
-
Baha Mar is large in stature, sure—and Rosewood is part of a three-hotel complex across the bay from Atlantis, which looms large and brooding over its own end of the water as everything Baha Mar does not want to be—dated, dark, and reminiscent of Spring Break Past.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
20 May 2026
-
Also fascinating were their contrasting likenesses, dark against light housed in the same being, a human eclipse.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
20 May 2026
Adjective
-
Even more depressing, this scenario essentially puts an end to the good-government experiment in nonpartisan redistricting reform.—
Steven Greenhut,
Oc Register,
15 May 2026
-
Such widespread outsourcing of thought and memory is deeply depressing to many educators.—
Nate Anderson,
ArsTechnica,
13 May 2026
Adjective
-
The delicate pitter-patter of a drum’s cymbal is the only sound to break through the thick brick wall of the obscure performance venue, Sun Space, and reach the wide, desolate Sunland Boulevard.—
Christopher Buchanan,
Los Angeles Times,
18 May 2026
-
Earlier this week, along a desolate stretch of road lined with oil refineries just north of the border between Shandong and Hebei provinces, an awareness of that spotlight seemed palpable.—
Simone McCarthy,
CNN Money,
12 May 2026
Adjective
-
And while all researchers recognize numerous factors that contribute to this troubling uptick, a key finding by NIH’s Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study is that screen time in late childhood predicts increased depressive symptoms in early adolescence.—
Jean Case,
Time,
14 May 2026
-
For patients with three or more lifetime depressive episodes, the ASCP itself supports indefinite maintenance therapy.—
Jonathan Slater,
STAT,
13 May 2026
Adjective
-
The annual solemn ceremony was a kickoff to Patriot Week.—
Paul Burton,
CBS News,
16 May 2026
-
Despite the crowds, the rousing music, and the excitement, Washington’s departure was a solemn affair, freighted by the stunning fact that the American colonies were now truly at war with the British Empire.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
13 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Cheerless.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cheerless. Accessed 21 May. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
