dismal, dreary, bleak, gloomy, cheerless, desolate mean devoid of cheer or comfort.

dismal indicates extreme and utterly depressing gloominess.

dreary, often interchangeable with dismal, emphasizes discouragement resulting from sustained dullness or futility.

bleak suggests chill, dull, and barren characteristics that utterly dishearten.

gloomy often suggests lack of hope or promise.

cheerless stresses absence of anything cheering.

desolate adds an element of utter remoteness or lack of human contact to any already disheartening aspect.

sullen, glum, morose, surly, sulky, crabbed, saturnine, gloomy mean showing a forbidding or disagreeable mood.

sullen implies a silent ill humor and a refusal to be sociable.

glum suggests a silent dispiritedness.

morose adds to glum an element of bitterness or misanthropy.

surly implies gruffness and sullenness of speech or manner.

sulky suggests childish resentment expressed in peevish sullenness.

crabbed applies to a forbidding morose harshness of manner.

saturnine describes a heavy forbidding aspect or suggests a bitter disposition.

gloomy implies a depression in mood making for seeming sullenness or glumness.