bleakness

English

Etymology

From bleak +‎ -ness.

Pronunciation

• Audio (Southern England):

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Noun

bleakness (usually uncountable, plural bleaknesses)

1. The characteristic of being bleak.

   Synonym: (Scotland) dreich

   • 1957 August, H. A. Vallance, “By Rail to the Norwegian Arctic”, in Railway Magazine, page 575:

     Snowsheds and snow fences protect the line on either side of Semskfjell, but the country soon begins to lose some of its bleakness, and the tree line is regained at Lønsdal (1,680 ft. above sea-level), where the line is high on a hillside, commanding widespread views of the mountains.

   • 2022 November 2, Paul Bigland, “New trains, old trains, and splendid scenery”, in RAIL, number 969, page 57:

     And there are few better ways to enjoy the rugged bleakness of the fells than from a nice warm train, especially when the weather's constantly changing as the day slips away.

Translations

characteristic of being bleak

Finnish: ankeus (fi) Irish: riteacht f Romanian: paliditate (ro) f, paloare (ro) f Russian: бле́дность (ru) f (blédnostʹ) Spanish: palidez (es) f, tristeza (es) f