| Grim |
| Drear |
| Dismal |
| Dreary |
| Austere |
| Hopeless |
| Desolate |
| Cheerless |
| Dim or grim |
| Dispiriting |
| Unpromising |
| Discouraging |
| Not promising |
| Far from rosy |
| Like film noir |
| Rather hopeless |
| Like a wasteland |
| Hardly hospitable |
| Arousing pessimism |
| With a bad outlook |
| Not very promising |
| Far from promising |
| ___ House": Dickens |
| Desolate and dreary |
| Far from optimistic |
| Just about hopeless |
| Like some prospects |
| Cold and unwelcoming |
| Offering little hope |
| Not at all promising |
| Dickens's "___ House |
| Stark; barren; dreary |
| Dickens' ''___ House'' |
| Like some winter landscapes |