bleakness

Cold, barren atmosphere

Bleakness is the quality of being bleak—cold, bare, and unwelcoming.

It most often describes landscapes or weather that offer no comfort or shelter: the bleakness of the moor in winter.

The word extends naturally to emotional and psychological states, suggesting hopelessness or despair: A sense of bleakness settled over her after the diagnosis.

Bleakness can also characterize situations, outlooks, or prospects that seem grim and without promise.

emotional

despair

Total absence of hope

hopelessnessState without hope
gloomPervasive dimness or dejection
melancholySubdued, lasting sadness

dejection · forlornness · sorrow · joylessness · despondency · dreariness · dismalness · grimness · cheerlessness · desolation

desolation

emptiness

Absence of substance

barrennessInability to bear fruit
wastelandUninhabitable barren region
voidWithout legal effect

abandonment · isolation · solitude · ruination · neglect · depopulation · desertification · devastation · starkness · lifelessness

cold

chill

Cold sensation or relaxation

frostThin ice coating
bitingHarshly critical or cold
rawIn original state

bitter · wintry · icy · frigid · piercing · harsh · numbing · grey · overcast · sunless

landscape

barren

Unable to produce

starkSevere and unadorned
windsweptExposed to strong winds
treelessHaving no woods

sparse · exposed · austere · harsh · featureless · unforgiving · rocky · moorland · tundra · scrubland

bleakness

despair

emptiness

chill

barren

bleakness

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