as bleak as Mordor
- idiom
- Literature
:
tan desolado como Mordor
- The landscape was as bleak as Mordor after the storm.
Examples
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His expression was as bleak as Mordor when he heard the bad news.
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On winter mornings, the empty playground felt as bleak as Mordor to the children.
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After the storm, the field looked as bleak as Mordor under the gray sky.
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This place feels as bleak as Mordor on a rainy day.
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After the storm, the field looked as bleak as Mordor under the gray sky.
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On winter mornings, the empty playground felt as bleak as Mordor to the children.
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This place feels as bleak as Mordor on a rainy day.
Synonyms
377
1.0
Feeling gloomy and sad
73
4.2
Sad and hopeless, making things seem very bad
44
3.8
A gloomy, boring time that makes you feel sad or tired
29
6.8
Empty and bleak with little life or shelter
23
4.2
Not bright or colorful and not lively
16
2.3
Dark and not well lit so a place feels sad
15
7.9
Being quiet and unhappy and showing little interest in others
11
5.3
Having no useful ideas or emotion
8
5.0
Cold wet weather that feels unpleasant
1
6.3
Not interesting and without energy or life
1
9.9
A dull, cold, and depressing place or scene
1
8.9
Dark and full of shadows in a way that makes you feel sad or scared
A dark, gloomy place that makes people feel afraid or uncomfortable
Dark and sad in a way that makes you feel unhappy
A place with little light that is damp and unpleasant
Very dark, almost black, in color or very sad and gloomy
Antonyms
How Bleak
Surface Forms
Morphology
The expression uses a straightforward simile pattern 'as X as Y' where 'bleak' (desolate) is directly compared to a named referent; if a learner knows the constituents — including that Mordor denotes a barren, forbidding place — the intended meaning ('extremely desolate or dreary') follows immediately. The only extra requirement is cultural/world-knowledge of the proper name Mordor, but given that knowledge the phrase is compositionally transparent.
Etymology
As bleak as Mordor comes from Mordor, the dark, empty land in the famous book 'The Lord of the Rings'. Mordor is shown as ash, bare rock and no life, so saying something is as bleak as Mordor means it is 'very empty, dark, or hopeless'.