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
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in sad
causing unhappiness
a barren and drear existence in a remote village
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in moroseness
Related Words
Dissimilar Words
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for drear
Adjective
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The fiscal prospects for both Chicago and its transit authority are bleak.—
A.D. Quig,
Chicago Tribune,
22 Aug. 2025 -
Europe’s biggest economy Germany shrank more than expected in the second quarter of the year and faces a bleak outlook.—
Prashant Rao,
semafor.com,
22 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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How long is unknown, but with the season winding down and every game increasing in importance, any game off for Tucker is a sad statement on how far his stock has dropped in the last month.—
Paul Sullivan,
Chicago Tribune,
19 Aug. 2025
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But the film’s precise, funny characters and vivid, sweltering look would have meant nothing without Lee’s wise and ultimately sad vision of multicultural America as a place where good intentions and casual mistrust are as commonplace as the local pizzeria.—
Tim Grierson,
Vulture,
16 Aug. 2025
Adjective
-
But when Shapiro demoed it on piano, Stiller recognized a spiritual cousin to David Shire’s lonely, somewhat jazzy solo piano score for The Conversation.—
Tim Greiving,
HollywoodReporter,
21 Aug. 2025
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Although Devil Girl from Mars was typical of the silly, schlocky TV fare that Estelle watched on many afternoons during her childhood, this movie was more than entertainment for a bored, lonely girl-child.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
19 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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The bottom line is downright depressing: short of a direct U.S. military intervention that no serious analyst would contemplate, Trump’s toolkit to will a Ukraine peace deal into existence is bare.—
Daniel DePetris,
Time,
7 Aug. 2025
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Gambling today, however, is a sad and depressing experience, nothing like my dad’s and my Atlantic City adventure.—
Reader Commentary,
Baltimore Sun,
15 Aug. 2025
Noun
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Cramer also suggested that investors have tariff ennui because the U.S. has more major trade deals to settle — namely with China, Canada and Mexico — so negotiations are likely to continue for months.—
Julie Coleman,
CNBC,
28 July 2025
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For all those twists and turns, the sentiments in Dutch Interior’s lyrics often have more of a cohesive feeling, chock full of western ennui and religious iconography.—
Leah Lu,
Rolling Stone,
15 July 2025
Adjective
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Sydney Sweeney’s new dark crime comedy Americana is new in theaters this weekend.—
Tim Lammers,
Forbes.com,
15 Aug. 2025
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Flames and dark smoke billowed over a cement factory that was set alight by a wildfire that swept through olive groves and forests and disrupted rail traffic on the outskirts of the Greek city of Patras, west of Athens.—
USA Today,
USA Today,
14 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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How petty and pathetic and thin-skinned could this administration get?—
Angie Martoccio,
Rolling Stone,
22 Aug. 2025
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Two things were completely predictable after Donald Trump’s pathetic stunt, packing the streets of Washington, DC, with National Guard members and federal agents, allegedly to combat crime.—
Chris Brennan,
USA Today,
22 Aug. 2025
Noun
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Google's new tool lets users search for flight options using natural language, rather than having to go through the tedium of searching for an endless combination of dates and destinations to find a good deal.—
Zach Wichter,
USA Today,
14 Aug. 2025
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GitHub's Copilot reduces the tedium of writing boilerplate functions by autocompleting repetitive code patterns.—
Gabriel Snyder,
MSNBC Newsweek,
25 June 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Drear.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/drear. Accessed 2 Sep. 2025.
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