BLEAK

Meaning

Without color; pale; pallid.

Etymology

Origin: Old English

From Middle English bleke (also bleche, whence the English doublet bleach (“pale, bleak”)), and bleike (due to Old Norse), and earlier Middle English blak, blac (“pale, wan”), from Old English blǣc, blǣċ, blāc (“bleak, pale, pallid”) and Old Norse bleikr (“pale, whitish”), all from Proto-Germanic *blaikaz (“pale, shining”). Cognate with Dutch bleek (“pale, wan, pallid”), Low German blek (“pale”), German bleich (“pale, wan, sallow”), Danish bleg (“pale”), Swedish blek (“pale, pallid”), Norwegian Bokmål bleik, blek (“pale”), Norwegian Nynorsk bleik (“pale”), Faroese bleikur (“pale”), Icelandic bleikur (“pale, pink”).

Synonyms & Antonyms

NYT Puzzle Appearances

Accepted in 7 recorded puzzles:

• 2026-05-26EAKCBIL
• 2026-03-03ABCEKLO
• 2025-11-14KANOBLE
• 2024-07-27BACEHKL
• 2023-12-20EOALCBK
• 2023-11-18EABCKLP
• 2023-03-30KAICBEL