bleakest

ADJECTIVE

barren

Synonyms

STRONGEST

austere chilly cold desolate dreary grim

WEAK

bare blank blighted bombed bulldozed burned cleared deforested desert deserted exposed flat gaunt open raw scorched stripped unpopulated unsheltered weather-beaten wild windswept

Antonyms

STRONGEST

bright cheerful friendly happy hot sympathetic warm

WEAK

appealing comfortable comforting congenial encouraging nice pleasant sunny

ADJECTIVE

depressing

Synonyms

STRONGEST

dark dismal dreary gloomy grim harsh lonely sad somber

WEAK

black cheerless comfortless discouraging disheartening drear funereal hard hopeless joyless melancholy mournful oppressive unpromising

Antonyms

STRONGEST

bright cheerful encouraging glad happy hopeful joyful light pleasant sunny

WEAK

appealing comfortable comforting congenial nice

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

When I graduated from UC–Berkeley with my “useless” comparative literature degree, into one of the bleakest job markets in recent American memory, I thought to myself, There must be a loophole somewhere.

From Slate • Mar. 20, 2026

Instead, millions of university graduates are entering the bleakest job market in years.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 11, 2026

Darker though was “Disclaimer,” perhaps one of the bleakest and most challenging works of art this year.

From Salon • Dec. 16, 2024

Just when the divisions seemed bleakest, I ran into Jim Kusters, a retiree and Trump supporter who was sitting for breakfast in Mt.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 20, 2024

But as any MacGyver episode will show you, when things look bleakest, that’s about the time you turn a corner.

From "The Queen of Water" by Laura Resau