It therefore cost Mamercus nothing to explain his predicament to Scaurus in the bleakest terms.

Perhaps influenced by his personal experiences, Mr. Anderson sees the world, or at least crime in the world, in bleak terms.

In the English language, both "existentialism" and "Warsaw" are generally prefixed by the term "bleak," the way "burger" is followed by "fries."

Patrick Abouchalache, an analyst at Salomon Smith Barney, described the situation in bleak terms.

Mr. Stancik's reports often depict the system in rather bleak terms and with a flare for the graphic detail.

Economists and analysts have a bleak term for financial problems that seep out of one country and begin to swamp the economies of other nations: "contagion."

Still another sign gives a similar message in bleaker terms: "The landlord has legal possession of these premises pursuant to a warrant of eviction."

Generally, Mr. Kerry's support has come from voters describing themselves to pollsters as angry at the Bush administration and see the economy and its future in fairly bleak terms.

But others talk in bleaker terms.

"I think this is a temporary period that the industry is looking at in the bleakest terms," he said.