mirthless

Definition of mirthlessnext

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 mirthless Historically, autocrats are a mirthless bunch. David Remnick, New Yorker, 19 Sep. 2025 Splashes of elegance in gravestone carving appear as the mirthless old Puritans die, people get richer, and London goes royal. Brian T. Allen, National Review, 19 July 2025 Why is this one mirthless and artless? Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune, 29 Jan. 2025 Yet there was a mirthless response from those around him; a realisation there was an element of truth to his chant. Roshane Thomas, The Athletic, 30 Dec. 2024 His mirthless laugh might have suggested Kafkaesque persecution, or Hardyesque inexorability of fate. Tad Friend, The New Yorker, 21 Oct. 2024 Susan Faludi Laugh-In On the joyful Kamala Harris and the mirthless Donald Trump Nathaniel Rich Silent Spring Why aren’t the candidates talking about climate change? Patricia J. Williams, The New York Review of Books, 18 Oct. 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for mirthless
Adjective
  • Colorado’s puzzling 8-6 loss to woebegone Vancouver this past Wednesday was the Avs’ sixth game dressed as the Quebec Nordiques, and they’re now dropped three straight games while going retro — including two straight in regulation.
    Sean Keeler, Denver Post, 4 Apr. 2026
  • In two years Curt Cignetti took a woebegone college team, with nary a five-star player, to an undefeated national championship.
    Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 24 Jan. 2026
Adjective
  • The storm let up before daybreak, but the morning was gray and cheerless with a cold wind.
    Elwyn "Bud" Myers, Outdoor Life, 11 Mar. 2026
  • This episode is disappointingly cheerless overall—it’s not frosted, tinsely, glowing, silver with bells and mist, or snowy.
    Jenny Singer, Glamour, 3 Nov. 2025
Adjective
  • There were enough people in the room who were sad about the kid.
    Ben Rosenstock, Vulture, 2 Apr. 2026
  • And that’s really sad, because the latest gen is a genuinely fantastic car.
    Adam Ismail, The Drive, 2 Apr. 2026
Adjective
  • Four Spent the Day Together is a flat, at times lugubrious account of losing such conviction.
    Rosa Lyster, Harpers Magazine, 30 Dec. 2025
  • Both men’s physiognomy can lean similarly to the lugubrious.
    Rebecca Mead, New Yorker, 17 Nov. 2025
Adjective
  • In fact, talking about softball made her … kind of melancholy.
    Tony Baranek, Chicago Tribune, 1 Apr. 2026
  • The faces of Al Pacino and John Cazale are unmistakable — Pacino’s eyelashes, Cazale’s tundra of a forehead, their little-boyishness in close-up, the anxiety and melancholy in their eyes.
    Sara Holdren, Vulture, 31 Mar. 2026
Adjective
  • Hsu plays Joy, a morose daughter of two Chinese immigrants.
    Rachel Syme, New Yorker, 30 Mar. 2026
  • Rivera is still alive but morose; Kahlo, his much younger wife and fellow artist, has been dead for three years, having expired at 47 following a life of near-constant pain.
    Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune, 22 Mar. 2026
Adjective
  • This melancholic début novel weaves between New York City in 2012 and a small island in the Andaman Sea in December, 2004.
    The New Yorker, New Yorker, 6 Apr. 2026
  • Sonically, the track (produced and composed by Gavilan) is a melancholic grassroots folk song accompanied by weeping guitar riffs and a heart-pounding cajón.
    Tere Aguilera, Billboard, 27 Mar. 2026
Adjective
  • Fans started to file out of the park in the sixth inning, when Houston led 10-0, with a collective expression of dejected gold.
    Joe Davidson, Sacbee.com, 5 Apr. 2026
  • Another agonizing Final Four loss left Texas coach Vic Schaefer among the dejected as well.
    John Marshall, Chicago Tribune, 4 Apr. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Mirthless.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mirthless. Accessed 9 Apr. 2026.

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