as in bleak
causing or marked by an atmosphere lacking in cheer
historically regarded as a dreich corner of Britain, Scotland's very name comes from the Greek word for "dark"
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dreich
Adjective
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For two teens unable to use their legs, the future was especially bleak.—
Nicole Acevedo,
NBC news,
7 Mar. 2026 -
So what’s to be done when things look bleak?—
Ryan Ermey,
CNBC,
6 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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Police released an image captured from a surveillance video showing a person wearing dark clothes and a backpack, with their face covered.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
10 Mar. 2026
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But the late-Baroque facade of the building conceals a special, darker history, one that reflects persistent political and legal problems for the bank thousands of miles away, in the US.—
Hugo Miller,
Bloomberg,
10 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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The aggression with which both parties have worked to manipulate district lines—while loudly inveighing against the other party for doing the exact same thing—is cynical and depressing.—
Ian Crouch,
New Yorker,
4 Mar. 2026
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The case exposed the depressing banality of it all—the man smiling politely at you at the bakery, only to rape your comatose body at night.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
4 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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Gary is a lonely, unassuming postal worker who loves the Counting Crows.—
Maggie Fremont,
Vulture,
9 Mar. 2026
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Its 1959 Googie-style sign pierces the sky, a beacon of hope for weary road-trippers cruising this achingly lonely stretch of highway.—
Zoey Goto,
Travel + Leisure,
8 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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Whatever your position on the war, killing human beings is a matter for somber reflection and not the intense joy Hegseth displays.—
Sun Sentinel Editorial Board,
Sun Sentinel,
12 Mar. 2026
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The big story Instead of trumpeting China's tech advances, Premier Li Qiang struck an uncharacteristically somber tone during a nationwide address on policy plans.—
Evelyn Cheng,
CNBC,
11 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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Alcohol can make depressive symptoms even worse.—
Sarah Rumpf-Whitten,
FOXNews.com,
8 Mar. 2026
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An acute spike in IL-6 following heat exposure appears to correlate with how much depressive symptoms improve.—
Will Stone,
NPR,
6 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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Instead, adventurous beachgoers can check out the remains of hundreds of shipwrecks, lodged in the desolate sand.—
Melanie van Zyl,
Travel + Leisure,
6 Mar. 2026
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Your character is a shape-shifting Ditto, and you’ve been dropped in a desolate landscape.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
27 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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The snowpack acts as a natural water storage system for California, and ideally when the region’s climate shifts from cold to warm and dry, the snow gradually melts down from rivers and creeks to fill reservoirs over a period of months.—
Hannah Fry,
Los Angeles Times,
10 Mar. 2026
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Direct Sowing Outside This method is simple but must be done during fall to allow for natural cold stratification.—
SJ McShane,
Martha Stewart,
10 Mar. 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Dreich.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dreich. Accessed 13 Mar. 2026.
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