as in woebegone
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Recent Examples of mirthless
Writing, too, is mirthless and effortful.
—
Moira Donegan, New Yorker, 26 Mar. 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
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
Cheung, who has only one friend at work (Leo Chen), fields mirthless calls from his wife and daughter in Taiwan that are always about money, nothing else.
—Sheri Linden, The Hollywood Reporter, 19 May 2024
Moira Donegan, New Yorker, 26 Mar. 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
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
Cheung, who has only one friend at work (Leo Chen), fields mirthless calls from his wife and daughter in Taiwan that are always about money, nothing else.
—Sheri Linden, The Hollywood Reporter, 19 May 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for mirthless
Adjective
-
While examples abound, the state’s woebegone bullet train project, its tortuous efforts to implement information technology and the financial and managerial meltdown of its unemployment insurance program are among the most egregious.—
Dan Walters,
Mercury News,
26 Apr. 2025
-
Sunday, the Sox, who are now an impossibly bad 31-100, locked up the sixth triple-digit-loss season in their woebegone history with a 9-4 defeat at the hands of the Detroit Tigers.—
Jon Greenberg,
The Athletic,
25 Aug. 2024
Adjective
-
For three days, things were cheerless for Courtney Williams.—
Mike Cook,
Twin Cities,
28 May 2025
-
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
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
-
Some movie-goers love that sort of lugubrious, meditative filmmaking, some not so much, but either way — and to paraphrase Carly Simon — nobody does it better.—
Benjamin Svetkey,
HollywoodReporter,
28 June 2025
-
The lugubrious $190 million musical was a sad clown face on all fronts, cast into the dunk tank by critics and posting a D CinemaScore from audiences — the first comic-book title ever to earn such a low exit-poll grade.—
Chris Lee,
Vulture,
7 Oct. 2024
Adjective
-
The staffing up is also a sign of green shoots at an otherwise morose time for media.—
Alex Weprin,
HollywoodReporter,
1 July 2025
-
Based on the memoir of a real doctor, the stories and tribulations feel achingly real, and Whishaw's sly smile and tongue-in-cheek delivery keeps the depressing stories from becoming too morose.—
Kelly Lawler,
USA Today,
8 May 2025
Adjective
-
This melancholic yet humorous duet about a newly sober man who forms an unexpected bond with his dentist was an audience favorite at the SXSW festival.—
Leo Barraclough,
Variety,
25 June 2025
-
Where the original is melancholic and smooth, Wayne’s spin is mischievous.—
Pitchfork,
Pitchfork,
6 June 2025
Adjective
-
In this evocative, melancholy tale, an Italian champion racer is tasked with driving a car from Italy into Russia.—
Bilge Ebiri,
Vulture,
27 June 2025
-
The commercial, as many may recall, features a montage of animal clips set to the melancholy ballad.—
Marina Watts,
People.com,
26 June 2025
Adjective
-
Yet people remain dejected about the economy, according to the University of Michigan’s Index of Consumer Sentiment.—
Josh Boak,
Fortune,
11 Dec. 2023
-
Loneliness is on the rise in the American workforce and may be a major reason so many people feel dejected and uninspired at their desks.—
Kells McPhillips,
Fortune Well,
16 Oct. 2023
Cite this Entry
“Mirthless.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mirthless. Accessed 9 Jul. 2025.
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