MIRTHLESS Synonyms: 115 Similar and Opposite Words

mirthless

adjective

Definition of mirthless

as in woebegone

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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

Brewer was hired two years ago after more than a decade as head coach at perennial power Georgia, part of a commitment by the school and a motivated (and wealthy) alumni group willing to pump resources into a woebegone golf program.

— Mark Zeigler, San Diego Union-Tribune, 20 May 2026
After three seasons of almost nothing but dread and sorrow, the NBA’s most woebegone franchise, for generations, finally had a moment to celebrate.

— David Aldridge, New York Times, 11 May 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

The resulting track carries a hint of classic Athens melancholy while centering on one of Chura’s most hopeful songs to date.

— SPIN Staff, SPIN, 23 July 2026
His style, though, is still idiosyncratic—a particular mix of bedroom melancholy and broadband corruption.

— Amanda Petrusich, New Yorker, 22 July 2026

Definition of melancholy

Adjective

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
Life without either, the pair determine, has left Leonora morose, maladjusted and desperate to claw her way back to the road not taken.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 9 June 2026

Definition of morose

Adjective

Later, another nerdy boy will fall prey to their antics, yet there’s no gruesome violence on sight, only a melancholic and ethereal exorcizing of the demons that plague Emily’s heart.

— Carlos Aguilar, Variety, 20 July 2026
Now with Daughter From Hell, Abrams once again combines bulletproof pop songwriting with a melancholic indie-folk aesthetic.

— Molly Mary O’Brien, Pitchfork, 17 July 2026

Definition of melancholic

Adjective

The sea of yellow applauding the efforts of the dejected Brazilian players who milled about, seemingly unwilling to accept that a match that took so long to really get going was over so quickly.

— Hannah Keyser, CNN Money, 5 July 2026
Reactions both delirious and dejected have become a staple on national and global soccer telecasts.

— Blair Kerkhoff, Kansas City Star, 3 July 2026

Definition of dejected

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mirthfulness

mirthless

mirthlessly

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“Mirthless.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mirthless. Accessed 30 Jul. 2026.

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Synonyms of mirthless

adjective

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