Cheerless

adj

adj ·Common ·High school level

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Devoid of cheer; gloomy.

    "I then went on, beginning with the rise and progress of the primitive religions, and coming down to the various religions of the present time, during which time I labored to show Queequeg that all these Lents, Ramadans, and prolonged ham-squattings in cold, cheerless rooms were stark nonsense; […]"

Adjective
  1. 1
    causing sad feelings of gloom and inadequacy wordnet

Example

More examples

"A pernicious excitement to learn and play chess has spread all over the country, and numerous clubs for practicing this game have been formed in cities and villages...chess is a mere amusement of a very inferior character, which robs the mind of valuable time that might be devoted to nobler acquirements, while it affords no benefit whatever to the body. Chess has acquired a high reputation as being a means to discipline the mind, but persons engaged in sedentary occupations should never practice this cheerless game; they require out-door exercises--not this sort of mental gladiatorship."

Etymology

From cheer + -less.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.