1
as in darkly
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2
as in somberly
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Recent Examples of bleakly
But Cash’s most original and engaging writing is slightly out of step with reality and bleakly funny, devoted to wordplay and willing to be foolish about it.
—
Hannah Gold, New Yorker, 21 Jan. 2026
On the sixth day of the new year, normally a bleakly depressing time for corporate employees, Enhypen had a treat in store for their fans.
—Irene Kim, Vogue, 16 Jan. 2026
Pulling all the threads together, Donald Tusk, Poland’s prime minister and a key international ally of Ukraine, saw things bleakly.
—Andrew Carey, CNN Money, 29 Nov. 2025
Where other projects have found success discussing the same notions bleakly, Etzler trusts his sardonic approach will tempt audiences to let their guards down and allow the subject matter to resonate, perhaps looking inward at their own complicity in the process.
—Holly Jones, Variety, 26 Sep. 2025
Hannah Gold, New Yorker, 21 Jan. 2026
On the sixth day of the new year, normally a bleakly depressing time for corporate employees, Enhypen had a treat in store for their fans.
—Irene Kim, Vogue, 16 Jan. 2026
Pulling all the threads together, Donald Tusk, Poland’s prime minister and a key international ally of Ukraine, saw things bleakly.
—Andrew Carey, CNN Money, 29 Nov. 2025
Where other projects have found success discussing the same notions bleakly, Etzler trusts his sardonic approach will tempt audiences to let their guards down and allow the subject matter to resonate, perhaps looking inward at their own complicity in the process.
—Holly Jones, Variety, 26 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bleakly
Adverb
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Suddenly, Duvall’s talent seemed not just brilliant but darkly electrifying, cut from the same volatile ’70s cloth as that of Robert De Niro and Al Pacino.—
EW Staff,
Entertainment Weekly,
16 Feb. 2026
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The result is a surreal and darkly comic tale set inside a decaying industrial wig factory, where workers are pushed into punishing overtime shifts by the manipulative incentives of an exploitative lady overseer.—
Patrick Brzeski,
HollywoodReporter,
15 Feb. 2026
Adverb
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As a light dusting of snow fell over Minneapolis Sunday morning, community members lit candles, laid fresh flowers and stood somberly around a makeshift vigil at the site of Pretti’s death.—
Michael Biesecker,
Chicago Tribune,
25 Jan. 2026
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In October, family, friends and community members somberly walked out of the courthouse, disappointed to learn the resentencing hearing for Rhoades would be delayed.—
Kayla Moeller,
CBS News,
20 Dec. 2025
Adverb
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Beatrice and Eugenie appear to have quietly tried to disentangle themselves from their parents’ mess.—
Lauren Said-Moorhouse,
CNN Money,
16 Feb. 2026
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And the platform, which mixes highbrow political news sites with pop culture sources like People, has quietly emerged as a major force in the US information space.—
semafor.com,
semafor.com,
16 Feb. 2026
Adverb
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One of the oldest neighborhoods in Los Angeles, Highland Park has historically been a heavily Latino working-class community.—
Andrés Soto,
USA Today,
19 Feb. 2026
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Liu’s personal story also contrasts heavily with Gu’s, which has been seized upon by some social media commentators.—
Jessie Yeung,
CNN Money,
19 Feb. 2026
Adverb
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The film centers on Westley (Cary Elwes), a farmhand who goes on a noble quest to rescue his beloved Buttercup (Robin Wright) from the clutches of the loathsome Prince Humperdink (Chris Sarandon), to whom she's unhappily betrothed.—
James Mercadante,
Entertainment Weekly,
20 Jan. 2026
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The Old Globe: ‘Hedda Gabler’ Film and stage star Katie Holmes will play the title role in a new adaptation of Henrik Ibsen’s 1891 Norwegian psychological drama about an unhappily married and controlling woman whose plot to financially ruin her former lover goes horribly awry.—
Pam Kragen,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
28 Dec. 2025
Adverb
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These athletes run dozens of miles, generally in the heat, at altitude, or in bad weather, up and down mountains, all while attempting, sometimes miserably, to eat and drink enough to keep going.—
Dan England,
Outside,
5 Feb. 2026
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Brown then tried to ride the anti-tax, spending-limit movement into the White House two years later — but failed miserably.—
Dan Walters,
Mercury News,
15 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Bleakly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bleakly. Accessed 23 Feb. 2026.
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