Bleak
Difficult
Difficult adjective - Requiring considerable physical or mental effort.
Bleak and difficult are semantically related. Sometimes you can use "Bleak" instead an adjective "Difficult".
Nearby Word: difficulty
Both words in one sentence
- A bleak and difficult read in parts, but gratifying in its willingness to actually let Mulder and Scully suffer and work through the traumas inflicted on them by canon.
Source: Fan Fic Recs / The X-Files -
It doesn't help that they don't appear in a obvious pattern, making the scene (along with the slow music and the darkness) not only bleak but difficult.
Source: Bleak Level -
Apparently Brett Anderson still finds it difficult to listen to the song without being reminded of the bleak times that spawned it.
Source: Music / Suede
Cite this Source
Difficult and Bleak. (2016). Retrieved 2026, August 07, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/bleak/difficult
Bleak & Difficult. N.p., 2016. Web. 07 Aug. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/bleak/difficult>.
Difficult or Bleak. 2016. Accessed August 07, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/bleak/difficult.
Google Ngram Viewer shows how "bleak" and "difficult" have occurred on timeline