What does bleak mean?
Word: Bleak
Part of Speech: Adjective
Meaning: Bleak means cold, grey and unwelcoming, like a bleak winter day; also without hope, as in a bleak future.
Synonyms: gloomy, grim, dreary, cheerless
Antonyms: bright, cheerful
How do you spell bleak?
Syllables: bleak
Tricky part: The long ee sound is spelt ea, not ee. Bleek looks right to many students because of words like cheek and week.
Watch out for: bleek, bleke
Memory tip: Bleak weather can make you feel weak: bleak and weak share the same ea in the middle.
Bleak in a sentence
Example 1: The hills looked bleak under the heavy December fog.
Example 2: After the factory closed, the future of the small town seemed bleak.
Example 3: Tara painted bright flowers on the bleak grey wall of the bus shelter.
Fun Fact
Bleak is also the name of a small silvery fish found in European rivers. Both meanings go back to an old word for pale.
Practise the CREST Way
Sound Check
Which word does not rhyme with 'bleak'?
a) technique
b) cheek
c) break
d) unique
Show answer
c) break. Break looks like bleak on paper but says ay; unique, technique and cheek all end with the eek sound.
Spell Probe
One word in the sentence is misspelt. Choose the meaning of that word.
On a bleack December morning, the fishermen of Kochi mended their nets on the shore and waited for the sea to calm down.
a) people who catch fish for a living
b) to repair something that is torn or broken
c) the land along the edge of the sea
d) cold, grey and without cheer
Show answer
d) cold, grey and without cheer. Words ending in eak, like streak and squeak, never add a c before the k, so bleack is the slip.
Word Puzzle
Match the words with the correct options:
1. bleak 2. scarce 3. dull a. hopeful b. sharp c. plentiful
a) 1-b, 2-c, 3-a
b) 1-a, 2-c, 3-b
c) 1-b, 2-a, 3-c
d) 1-c, 2-a, 3-b
Show answer
b) 1-a, 2-c, 3-b. These are opposites: bleak and hopeful, scarce and plentiful, a dull knife and a sharp one.
Word Tally
How many words are misspelt in the given sentence?
On a grey, windy afternoon in Darjeeling, the tea pickers pulled their shawls tighter and walked slowley up to the gardans.
a) 2
b) 1
c) 3
d) 0
Show answer
a) 2. Slowly simply adds ly to slow, and gardens needs an e; the rest of the sentence is correct.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which place sounds bleak?
a) a bare, windswept hill with no trees
b) a busy market full of colour
c) a sunny beach full of families
d) a garden of blooming roses
Show answer
a) a bare, windswept hill with no trees
2. If a team's chances of winning look bleak, ___.
a) it is sure to win
b) the match is cancelled
c) the score is level
d) it will probably lose
Show answer
d) it will probably lose
