MIRTHLESS Synonyms: 115 Similar and Opposite Words

mirthless

adjective

Definition of mirthless

as in woebegone

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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 One thing the record makes clear is that Anderson is not afraid to mix humor into her work, proving that avant-garde performance mustn’t be mirthless or without joy. — David Harris, SPIN, 11 May 2026 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 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

Recent Examples of Synonyms for mirthless

Adjective

Almost everything in this vast, artificial indoor garden, including the surrounding stands of bamboo and a woebegone girl sprouting angel wings, is rendered in the Belgian artist’s signature ash gray.

— Miles Socha, Footwear News, 11 Sep. 2026
The simplest fix would be to temporarily divert money now earmarked for California’s woebegone high-speed rail project to Bay Area transit operations.

— Marc Joffe, Mercury News, 4 Sep. 2026

Definition of woebegone

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
Gomez gestured across the street toward 100 Centre Street—the criminal courthouse, a cheerless Art Deco building the color of cinder blocks.

— Sarah Lustbader, The New Yorker, 10 Mar. 2025

Definition of cheerless

Adjective

Sheriff’s officials sad Damico, who had personal ties with Canata, claimed to be his power of attorney but was unable to provide any correlating paperwork or a will to verify such statements.

— Rosalio Ahumada, Sacbee.com, 10 Nov. 2026
The musical comedy has earned Moore raves on the festival circuit for her role as a sad suburban homemaker turned anxious aspiring actress in a New Jersey community theater.

— Anne Thompson, IndieWire, 9 Nov. 2026

Definition of sad

Adjective

Alongside Paul Mescal and one Joe Alwyn, this most lugubrious of WhatsApp group chats is supposedly the inspiration behind Swift’s album, The Tortured Poets Department.

— Ben Jureidini, Vanity Fair, 15 Aug. 2026
Reaction has been predictably lugubrious, although laced with gratitude and occasional humor.

— Michael Deeds, Idaho Statesman, 19 June 2026

Definition of lugubrious

Adjective

The two are fond but sick of each other, at times bickering with real melancholy and malice.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 2 Nov. 2026
Harry still has some of that sparkle, but it’s tempered by melancholy, the aftermath of little mistakes and big ones he’s made along the way.

— Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 30 Oct. 2026

Definition of melancholy

Adjective

But the sympathy in his voice keeps things from becoming too morose.

— Brendan Hay, SPIN, 24 Aug. 2026
The first leg will be the ever-popular third-place playoff, in which a couple of morose losers compete for no trophy at all and a chance to show off the superior sourness of their grapes.

— Anthony Lane, New Yorker, 17 July 2026

Definition of morose

Adjective

Silvestrov’s melancholic strings soared around him, enveloping the duo in their sense of pining.

— Lucy Gellman, Hartford Courant, 7 Nov. 2026
This tale of a gently dysfunctional family comically moving from one disaster to the next is enhanced by a perfectly melancholic soundtrack (Nico, Nick Drake, and Vince Guaraldi) and an easy pace.

— Debby Wolfinsohn, Entertainment Weekly, 1 Nov. 2026

Definition of melancholic

Adjective

The Melbourne duo taps into trip-hop’s essential strangeness on its latest album, trading the genre’s boilerplate languor for dejected moods, menacing auras, and slippery, all-consuming bass.

— Sam Goldner, Pitchfork, 27 Oct. 2026
In Brand New Day, Peter resumes his duties as a friendly neighborhood superhero in New York City, but also remains dejected that MJ (Zendaya) and Ned (Jacob Batalon) are moving on with their lives without any memory of his love and friendship.

— Tim Lammers, Forbes.com, 28 July 2026

Definition of dejected

Browse Nearby Words

mirthfulness

mirthless

mirthlessly

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“Mirthless.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mirthless. Accessed 12 Nov. 2026.

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Synonyms of mirthless

adjective

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