bleaken

B3L1E1A1K5E1N1

verb

To become bleak

Scrabble 13
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Meanings

verbbleaken (third-person singular simple present bleakens, present participle bleakening, simple past and past participle bleakened)

present singular third person bleakens · participle present bleakening · participle past bleakened · past bleakened

  1. intransitiveTo become bleak

    The imagination tends to bleaken in adult life, and rigid categories may reduce perceptual sensitivity. The sense of wonder is diminished and gratitude for experience itself may fail.

    1997, Murray Cox, Alice Theilgaard, Mutative Metaphors in Psychotherapy: The Aeolian Mode, page 133
    1 more example

    The fact of the phrase caused the sky to bleaken and his skin to itch, and by Monday night, when he was unable to sleep, Amos despised his own sensibilities and also despised the world.

    2003, Haven Kimmel, The Solace of Leaving Early, page 17

Origin

From bleak + -en.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

bleaken. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bleaken

MLA

“bleaken.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bleaken. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “bleaken,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bleaken.

Source: bleaken on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.