How to pronounce bleak
Say it like BLEEK. Bleak is a single syllable, so the whole word carries the stress.
Click the play button next to American or British to hear how to pronounce bleak. Choose Slow to hear each sound clearly.
- BLEEK
- Main stress
- Lighter stress
- Unstressed
Bleak pronunciation, sound by sound
Read the parts left to right, then blend them together without pausing.
- BLEEKSay this part loudest and longest. The vowel is the "ee" in see.
American vs British pronunciation of bleak
American and British speakers say bleak in essentially the same way: /blik/ in the US and /bliːk/ in the UK.
British respelling: BLEEK.
What does bleak mean?
- Without color; pale; pallid.
- Desolate and exposed; swept by cold winds.“a bleak and bare rock”
- Unhappy; cheerless; miserable; emotionally desolate.“Downtown Albany felt bleak that February after the divorce.”
- A small European river fish (Alburnus alburnus), of the family Cyprinidae.
Where does bleak come from?
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”), Far
Similar and opposite words
Similar meaning
Words that rhyme with bleak
Practicing rhymes is a quick way to lock in the vowel sound of bleak.
Questions about saying bleak
How do you pronounce bleak?
Say BLEEK. The American pronunciation is /blik/. In British English it is /bliːk/. Press play above to hear it at normal speed or slowly.
How many syllables are in bleak?
Bleak is a single syllable, so the whole word carries the stress. Broken into parts: BLEEK.
Do Americans and Brits say bleak the same way?
Almost exactly. The American form is /blik/ and the British form is /bliːk/, so you can use either pronunciation with any listener.