
adj., bleak·er, bleak·est.
- Gloomy and somber: "Life in the Aran Islands has always been bleak and difficult" (John Millington Synge).
- Providing no encouragement; depressing: a bleak prospect.
- Cold and cutting; raw: bleak winds of the North Atlantic.
- Exposed to the elements; unsheltered and barren: the bleak, treeless regions of the high Andes.
[Middle English bleik, pale, from Old Norse bleikr, white.]
bleakly bleak'ly adv.bleakness bleak'ness n.
bleak2 (blēk)

n., pl., bleak, or bleaks.
A small European freshwater fish of the genus Alburnus that is related to the carp and has silvery scales used in the manufacture of artificial pearls.
[Middle English bleke, probably alteration (influenced by bleke, pale) of *blay, from Old English blǣge.]










