Synonym Chooser

How does the adjective cheerless contrast with its synonyms?

Some common synonyms of cheerless are bleak, desolate, dismal, dreary, and gloomy. While all these words mean "devoid of cheer or comfort," cheerless stresses absence of anything cheering.

a drab and cheerless office

When could bleak be used to replace cheerless?

The meanings of bleak and cheerless largely overlap; however, bleak suggests chill, dull, and barren characteristics that utterly dishearten.

the bleak years of the depression

Where would desolate be a reasonable alternative to cheerless?

In some situations, the words desolate and cheerless are roughly equivalent. However, desolate adds an element of utter remoteness or lack of human contact to any already disheartening aspect.

a desolate outpost

When is it sensible to use dismal instead of cheerless?

While in some cases nearly identical to cheerless, dismal indicates extreme and utterly depressing gloominess.

dismal weather

When might dreary be a better fit than cheerless?

The synonyms dreary and cheerless are sometimes interchangeable, but dreary, often interchangeable with dismal, emphasizes discouragement resulting from sustained dullness or futility.

a dreary job

When is gloomy a more appropriate choice than cheerless?

While the synonyms gloomy and cheerless are close in meaning, gloomy often suggests lack of hope or promise.

gloomy war news

Example Sentences

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.
Recent Examples of cheerless For three days, things were cheerless for Courtney Williams. Mike Cook, Twin Cities, 28 May 2025 Gomez gestured across the street toward 100 Centre Street—the criminal courthouse, a cheerless Art Deco building the color of cinder blocks. Sarah Lustbader, The New Yorker, 10 Mar. 2025 Gomez gestured across the street toward 100 Centre Street—the criminal courthouse, a cheerless Art Deco building the color of cinder blocks. Sarah Lustbader, The New Yorker, 10 Mar. 2025 Wedged between the cheerless skyscrapers of Third Avenue and an uncharming stretch of Second, just blocks north of the bro bars of Murray Hill, is a row of nine townhouses. Adriane Quinlan, Curbed, 2 Aug. 2024 Election polls may seem cheerless, inscrutable, and wrapped in data and murky terminology. W. Joseph Campbell, Fortune, 29 Oct. 2024 Their lives had been expended in cheerless labor, there wills broken, their intelligences numbed. Jay Nordlinger, National Review, 5 July 2024 That turned an entertaining exhibition into an awkward and cheerless faux-competitive affair. Globe Staff, BostonGlobe.com, 19 July 2022 For all his gloom, Mann was not entirely cheerless. Los Angeles Times, 29 July 2021
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cheerless
Adjective
  • At the same time, others who attended this year’s California Democratic Party Convention dismissed any notion that the future of the Democratic Party is bleak.
    Linh Tat, Oc Register, 31 May 2025
  • The early options on the GOP side are bleak: Neither Donalds nor Casey DeSantis, the governor’s wife who’s said to be interested in succeeding him, is the moderate Florida so desperately needs now.
    Orlando Sentinel, The Orlando Sentinel, 30 May 2025
Adjective
  • Set in a town ruled by absurd karate law, the film watches as a lonely teen forms an unlikely bond with the ghost of his late father’s favorite action hero.
    Matt Grobar, Deadline, 27 May 2025
  • If there was no Stitch, Lilo would have remained a lonely girl, and Nani silently suffering from her massive responsibilities.
    Laura Sirikul, Forbes.com, 26 May 2025
Adjective
  • Plus, the combination of the stone fireplace and the dark wood cabinets and shelves flanking it contributed to the overall impression of a somber, too-serious space.
    Meghan Holloran, Better Homes & Gardens, 29 May 2025
  • Trump will participate in the traditional wreath-laying ceremony and speak at the cemetery’s amphitheater, in what has been a somber occasion for U.S. presidents.
    Orlando Sentinel Staff, The Orlando Sentinel, 27 May 2025
Adjective
  • Lights with a lower temperature tend to be a warmer, more yellow shade that may look dim in dark garages.
    Molly Blanco, Better Homes & Gardens, 3 June 2025
  • He was last seen wearing a light shirt and dark shorts.
    David Chiu, People.com, 3 June 2025
Adjective
  • All that matters is whether Dance Mom, a character designed in a lab to be a depressing punchline, pulls in just enough of the always-online demo to boost their numbers among younger viewers.
    Kathryn VanArendonk, Vulture, 30 May 2025
  • Music was a way to showcase something that wasn’t depressing.
    Ramin Setoodeh, Variety, 28 May 2025
Adjective
  • When The Last of Us premiered back in 2023, there was massive chatter surrounding Pascal and his penchant for rescuing desolate children in TV shows.
    Stephanie Sengwe, People.com, 25 May 2025
  • See a camera operator following Snook to a desolate corner?
    CT Jones, Rolling Stone, 21 May 2025
Adjective
  • Men with moderate or severe depressive symptoms were 62% times more likely to use intimate partner violence by 2022 compared to those who had not had these symptoms, while men with suicidal thoughts, plans or attempts were 47% times as likely, the study found.
    Lex Harvey, CNN Money, 5 June 2025
  • Additionally, those with restrictive calorie diets reported higher numbers of depressive symptoms, including low mood, low energy and sleep disturbances.
    Charna Flam, People.com, 5 June 2025
Adjective
  • This has often been a lonesome endeavor, but Trump’s assault on democracy, financed by some of America’s richest people, has fortified the group’s arguments.
    Evan Osnos, New Yorker, 26 May 2025
  • It’s filled with gorgeous, serene shots of tastefully stately locales, from giant towers to simple rooms (even what looks like the inside of a fast food restaurant has a kind of lonesome grandeur to it).
    Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 11 Apr. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Cheerless.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cheerless. Accessed 11 Jun. 2025.

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