1
as in bleak
causing or marked by an atmosphere lacking in cheer
it was a drear morning in January when I went to take my driving test
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in sad
causing unhappiness
a barren and drear existence in a remote village
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in moroseness
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Recent Examples of Synonyms for drear
Adjective
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My father is a can-do, glass-half-full guy, a quality that has always felt like a rebuke of my own bleak world view, which makes the poor man literally wince.
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The numbers were even bleaker in other categories.
Adjective
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Then Greene takes a long, sad subway ride home, and America learns that one of their favorite TV doctors isn't flawless.
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Local foodies were sad to hear owner Sylvia Chung (Momma Chung) retired and closed the south Fort Worth restaurant in October of last year.
Noun
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At first Zeke seems the very embodiment of older generations’ complaints about GenZ ennui, but Rice isn’t taking cheap shots — not least since since his elders-but-not-wisers get no more flattering a portrait once George (Camp) enters the scene.
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White’s actorly presence comes through in his vocal performance, lending the beleaguered fighter a sense of depressed world-weariness and poignant ennui.
Adjective
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But the book’s ruminative watchfulness is unsuccessfully conjugated in this overly sedate play with music, which has the feel of a song cycle, though sung by the fine cast with gorgeous, lonely sorrow.
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One casualty was his lovely Princeton apartment, which never came together, more grad-student than dean in its feel, a lonely refrigerator in the kitchen holding only a cup of iced coffee or a jar of mayonnaise.
Adjective
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What a depressing, disturbing waste, no matter the final verdict.
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After watching and enjoying the film, a somewhat depressing thought leaped into my mind.
Noun
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The art of roster architecture has been replaced by the tedium of money management in many cases.
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There is a compounding effect to showing up, tolerating the tedium and choosing the harder path repeatedly.
Adjective
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Tourism and city officials say that marketplace channels festival foot traffic directly to Black entrepreneurs and helps keep dollars circulating in local neighborhoods long after the stages go dark.
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Jason kept the look casual in a light blue graphic T-shirt, white shorts, a baseball cap and dark sunglasses.
Adjective
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After these first three majors — and after a pathetic showing this week at Shinnecock — there's no reason to bet against it.
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The Right Now’s Diana Levy — the executive producer of the stunt — asked reporters to spread out in a way that would make the turnout appear as sparse (and therefore pathetic) as possible.
Cite this Entry
“Drear.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/drear. Accessed 27 Jun. 2026.
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