MIRTHLESS Synonyms: 115 Similar and Opposite Words

mirthless

adjective

Definition of mirthless

as in woebegone

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Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of mirthless One thing the record makes clear is that Anderson is not afraid to mix humor into her work, proving that avant-garde performance mustn’t be mirthless or without joy. — David Harris, SPIN, 11 May 2026 Historically, autocrats are a mirthless bunch. — David Remnick, New Yorker, 19 Sep. 2025 Splashes of elegance in gravestone carving appear as the mirthless old Puritans die, people get richer, and London goes royal. — Brian T. Allen, National Review, 19 July 2025 Yet there was a mirthless response from those around him; a realisation there was an element of truth to his chant. — Roshane Thomas, The Athletic, 30 Dec. 2024 His mirthless laugh might have suggested Kafkaesque persecution, or Hardyesque inexorability of fate. — Tad Friend, The New Yorker, 21 Oct. 2024

Recent Examples of Synonyms for mirthless

Adjective

Almost everything in this vast, artificial indoor garden, including the surrounding stands of bamboo and a woebegone girl sprouting angel wings, is rendered in the Belgian artist’s signature ash gray.

— Miles Socha, Footwear News, 11 Sep. 2026
The simplest fix would be to temporarily divert money now earmarked for California’s woebegone high-speed rail project to Bay Area transit operations.

— Marc Joffe, Mercury News, 4 Sep. 2026

Definition of woebegone

Adjective

The storm let up before daybreak, but the morning was gray and cheerless with a cold wind.

— Elwyn "Bud" Myers, Outdoor Life, 11 Mar. 2026
Gomez gestured across the street toward 100 Centre Street—the criminal courthouse, a cheerless Art Deco building the color of cinder blocks.

— Sarah Lustbader, The New Yorker, 10 Mar. 2025

Definition of cheerless

Adjective

Spark, a writer of the first rank, brought her beautifully to life in this moving, rather sad novel of Edinburgh in the 1930s.

— The Week US, TheWeek, 5 Oct. 2026
And yet the allegation against her now enters Orange County’s long, sad spectrum of anti-Mexican political history.

— Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 4 Oct. 2026

Definition of sad

Adjective

Alongside Paul Mescal and one Joe Alwyn, this most lugubrious of WhatsApp group chats is supposedly the inspiration behind Swift’s album, The Tortured Poets Department.

— Ben Jureidini, Vanity Fair, 15 Aug. 2026
Reaction has been predictably lugubrious, although laced with gratitude and occasional humor.

— Michael Deeds, Idaho Statesman, 19 June 2026

Definition of lugubrious

Adjective

Viard describes the melancholy of her post-Chanel life in detail, describing herself as a ghost, haunted by the presence of Lagerfeld’s memory.

— Olivier Bouchara, Vanity Fair, 30 Sep. 2026
The fading studio carries a note of melancholy about the state of the film industry as AI advances.

— Jenny S. Li, Variety, 29 Sep. 2026

Definition of melancholy

Adjective

But the sympathy in his voice keeps things from becoming too morose.

— Brendan Hay, SPIN, 24 Aug. 2026
The first leg will be the ever-popular third-place playoff, in which a couple of morose losers compete for no trophy at all and a chance to show off the superior sourness of their grapes.

— Anthony Lane, New Yorker, 17 July 2026

Definition of morose

Adjective

Alexandre Desplat’s score, meanwhile, toggles awkwardly between a pale imitation of Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’ melancholic lo-fi electronica in the previous film, and the ennobling orchestral themes that mark the filmmaker’s happier place.

— Guy Lodge, Variety, 7 Oct. 2026
Though the latter has one of the best bridges of the year, its undeniably melancholic and macabre nature is what put it out of contention.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 21 Sep. 2026

Definition of melancholic

Adjective

In Brand New Day, Peter resumes his duties as a friendly neighborhood superhero in New York City, but also remains dejected that MJ (Zendaya) and Ned (Jacob Batalon) are moving on with their lives without any memory of his love and friendship.

— Tim Lammers, Forbes.com, 28 July 2026
The sea of yellow applauding the efforts of the dejected Brazilian players who milled about, seemingly unwilling to accept that a match that took so long to really get going was over so quickly.

— Hannah Keyser, CNN Money, 5 July 2026

Definition of dejected

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mirthfulness

mirthless

mirthlessly

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“Mirthless.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mirthless. Accessed 9 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of mirthless

adjective

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