joylessness

noun

as in sadness
a state or spell of low spirits the inescapable joylessness that marred Yuletide celebrations during the war years

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for joylessness
  1. sadness
  2. depression
  3. melancholy
  4. mournfulness
Noun
  • Tsai, the Stanford professor, has conducted research on how emotion in American culture puts value on trying to always feel positive and minimizing negativity and sadness.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 24 Oct. 2026
  • Survey findings About 28% of Gaston respondents reported moderate or higher levels of negative emotions such as sadness, anxiety, anger or boredom, compared with roughly 10% in Union, Venkitasubramanian said.
    — Charlotte Observer, Charlotte Observer, 24 Oct. 2026
Definition of sadness
Noun
  • It’s found to result in improved coping, increased mental clarity, better emotion regulation, reduced depression, and ironically less loneliness.
    — Cheryl Fenton, Flow Space, 5 Nov. 2026
  • Anxiety and depression are common symptoms of the condition that intensify in the days leading up to a woman’s period.
    — IEEE Spectrum, IEEE Spectrum, 5 Nov. 2026
Definition of depression
Noun
  • The vestiges of his fading memory flash by with a haunting plainness, the melancholy of all this Americana and the sadness of a mind ravaged by time strike the viewer plainly at the end of this maximalist piece of life-writing.
    — Stephanie Wambugu, Vulture, 12 Oct. 2026
  • The question for me is whether or not Lloyd will also manage to capture the melancholy of a deceptively serious play, notwithstanding its reputation.
    — Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune, 23 Sep. 2026
Definition of melancholy
Noun
  • Power Ballad should be breezy and fun, with that twist of mournfulness that Carney is always so adept at pulling off.
    — Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 29 May 2026
Definition of mournfulness
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.

Browse Nearby Words

joylessly
joylessness
joyous
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Joylessness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/joylessness. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of quondam

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

7 Words for Old-Timey Vehicles

The Words of the Week - Nov. 6

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
woman sitting on floor holding book in front of her face on pink background
Famous Novels, Last Lines Quiz Needless to say, spoiler alert.
See All