bleak

== English == === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /bliːk/ Rhymes: -iːk === Etymology 1 === From Middle English bleke (also bleche, whence the English doublet bleach (“pale, bleak”)), and bleike (due to Old Norse), and earlier Middle English blak, blac (“pale, wan”), from Old English blǣc, blǣċ, blāc (“bleak, pale, pallid”) and Old Norse bleikr (“pale, whitish”), all from Proto-Germanic *blaikaz (“pale, shining”). Cognate with Dutch bleek (“pale, wan, pallid”), Low German blek (“pale”), German bleich (“pale, wan, sallow”), Danish bleg (“pale”), Swedish blek (“pale, pallid”), Norwegian Bokmål bleik, blek (“pale”), Norwegian Nynorsk bleik (“pale”), Faroese bleikur (“pale”), Icelandic bleikur (“pale, pink”). ==== Adjective ==== bleak (comparative bleaker, superlative bleakest) Without color; pale; pallid. Synonyms: pasty, sallow; see also Thesaurus:pallid Desolate and exposed; swept by cold winds. Unhappy; cheerless; miserable; emotionally desolate. Synonyms: dismal, lugubrious; see also Thesaurus:cheerless ===== Derived terms ===== ===== Translations ===== === Etymology 2 === From Middle English bleke (“small river fish, bleak, blay”), perhaps an alteration (due to Old English blǣc (“bright”) or Old Norse bleikja) of Old English blǣġe (“bleak, blay, gudgeon”); or perhaps from a diminutive of Middle English *bleye (“blay”), equivalent to blay +‎ -ock or blay +‎ -kin. See blay. ==== Noun ==== bleak (plural bleaks or bleak) A small European river fish (Alburnus alburnus), of the family Cyprinidae. ===== Synonyms ===== ablet alburn blay ===== Derived terms ===== Danube bleak sunbleak ===== Translations ===== === References === === Anagrams === Balke, Blake, Kabel, Kaleb, blake