joyless

as in unhappy
feeling unhappiness was utterly joyless after his bitter divorce

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for joyless
Adjective
  • This gives the creditor an additional target to pursue and make very unhappy which can indirectly put pressure on the debtor to pay the judgment.
    Jay Adkisson, Forbes.com, 2 July 2025
  • Circulation increased and the publication won two Pulitzer Prizes, but the owner, conservative Harry Guggenheim, was unhappy with the paper’s shift to the left, and he and Moyers were divided over the Vietnam War and the 1968 presidential election.
    Carmel Dagan, Variety, 26 June 2025
Adjective
  • Too much alcohol and your dreamy dessert turns into a sad, semi-frozen slush.
    Emily Price, Forbes.com, 1 July 2025
  • All three movies are packed with dinosaurs—dinosaurs running, dinosaurs being sad and winsome, dinosaurs showing ruthless disregard for human life.
    Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 30 June 2025
Adjective
  • As a result, couples may find themselves in a miserable situation.
    Mark Travers, CNBC, 29 June 2025
  • The first half of the Rockies’ 2025 season was miserable, and that’s an understatement.
    Patrick Saunders, Denver Post, 28 June 2025
Adjective
  • Screenshot from a July 1 TikTok video of a depressed golden retriever waiting for her dog dad to return 1 1/2 years after a breakup.
    Liz O'Connell, MSNBC Newsweek, 10 July 2025
  • The law expands opportunity zones and extends tax benefits for investing in inner cities and economically depressed rural areas.
    Stephen Moore, Boston Herald, 9 July 2025
Adjective
  • Raymond Cheadle, Honesty’s great-uncle, told WUSA the family, including the girl’s dad, is heartbroken.
    Miami Herald, Miami Herald, 11 July 2025
  • Pepe has the power to make two heartbroken Islanders immediately forget about their old connections.
    Alejandra Gularte, Vulture, 10 July 2025
Adjective
  • The pair's scenes are stunningly well-written, tasking the actors with navigating a whirlwind of anger, frustration, melancholy, and love in tight, uncomfortable spaces.
    Randall Colburn, EW.com, 3 July 2025
  • The film’s odd tone — propulsive yet melancholy, cutting yet reflective — seems to embody the fact that nothing ever stays the same.
    Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 27 June 2025
Adjective
  • Myers, who also participated in the September hunger strike at MacDougall-Walker, told CT Mirror that the lockdowns at Cheshire are worse.
    Emilia Otte, Hartford Courant, 10 July 2025
  • Amazon $140 Walmart WIRED’s previous top pick for best automatic latte machine is a great value even on a bad day.
    Scott Gilbertson, Wired News, 10 July 2025
Adjective
  • That, dear reader, is the sorry state of login security today.
    Davey Winder, Forbes.com, 9 July 2025
  • These are the kind of fragrances that strangers will stop you on the street to ask about (sorry).
    WIRED, Wired News, 8 July 2025
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.

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Cite this Entry

“Joyless.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/joyless. Accessed 15 Jul. 2025.

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