cheerlessnessn.
/ˈtʃɪələsnəs/, U.S. /ˈtʃɪrlᵻsnᵻs/ The quality or condition of being cheerless; dreariness, gloominess, joylessness.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > suffering > dejection > [noun]
unlustOE
sorrowfulnessa1250
heavinessc1275
elengenessec1320
dullnessc1369
tristourc1380
murknessc1390
tristesse1390
faintness1398
ungladnessa1400
droopingc1400
heavity14..
dejectionc1450
terne?a1513
disconsolation1515
descence1526
marea1529
sadness?1537
dumpishness1548
unblessedness1549
dolorousness1553
ruefulness?1574
dolefulness1586
heartlessness1591
languishment1591
mopishness1598
soul-sickness1603
contristation1605
damp1606
gloominess1607
sableness1607
uncheerfulnessa1617
disconsolateness1624
cheerlessnessa1631
dejectedness1633
droopingness1635
disanimation1637
lowness1639
desponsion1641
disconsolacy1646
despondency1653
dispiritedness1654
chagrin1656
demission1656
jawfall1660
weightedness1660
depression1665
disconsolancy1665
grumness1675
despondence1676
despond1678
disheartenednessa1680
glumness1727
low1727
gloom1744
low-spiritedness1754
blue devils1756
black dog1776
humdudgeon1785
blue devilism1787
dispiritude1797
wishtnessc1800
downheartedness1801
blue-devilage1816
dispiritment1827
downcastness1827
depressiveness1832
dolorosity1835
lugubriosity1840
disconsolance1847
down1856
heavy-heartedness1860
lugubriousness1879
sullenness1885
low key1886
melancholia1896
burn-out1903
mokus1924
downness1927
mopiness1927
deflation1933
wallow1934
the mind > emotion > suffering > dejection > [noun] > gloomy quality
drear1563
dreariment1579
drearihead1591
cloudinessa1600
dismalness1620
dolesomeness1625
cheerlessnessa1631
joylessnessa1631
drearihood1647
clouding1654
dismality1723
dreariness1727
mirthlessness1727
sombre1795
undelighta1822
sombreness1847
sombrousness1847
unhomelikeness1858
drearness1861
comfortlessness1865
unhomeliness1879
a1631 J. Donne Serm. (1954) VII. 69 A faintnesse of heart, a chearlesnesse, a joylesnesse of spirit.
1814 W. Wordsworth Excursion v. 225 A dreary plain of unillumined snow, With more than wintry cheerlessness and gloom.
1837 H. Martineau Society in Amer. III. 196 The one thing which the born blind want most is to have their cheerlessness removed.
1905 Lamp Jan. 614/2 The room was small... To say it was dismal, would only give an adumbrant idea of its cheerlessness.
1991 W. Horwood Duncton Tales xvii. 210 Sward saw the depth of her joylessness, and the cheerlessness of her narrow faith.
2009 Atlantic Monthly Jan. 104/3 For all its cheerlessness, the novel is anything but grittily realistic.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2016; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.a1631