as in woebegone
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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
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
-
And there is a beautiful human element to it that is kind of, at its core, a little sad.—
Rebecca Alter,
Vulture,
9 Apr. 2026
-
The vlogger Jordan Cheyenne, for one, wrecked her sharenting career by accidentally posting footage of herself coaching her son, who was distraught over the family’s sick puppy, to make a specific kind of sad face for YouTube.—
Jessica Winter,
New Yorker,
7 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
-
Its most melancholy scene of all involves Willy Loman, a traveling salesman who has given his unnamed company the best years of his now weary life, walking into the head office only to be humiliated by the callow young man who now runs his company and could not give a damn about him.—
Chris Jones,
New York Daily News,
10 Apr. 2026
-
A lot of the dances turned out to be slightly melancholy.—
Naaman Zhou,
New Yorker,
6 Apr. 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
Cite this Entry
“Mirthless.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mirthless. Accessed 10 Apr. 2026.
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