dismal

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English

Etymology

From Middle English dismal, dismale, from Anglo-Norman dismal, from Old French (li) dis mals (“(the) bad days”), from Medieval Latin diēs malī (“bad days”).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈdɪzməl/
  • Audio (US)(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɪzməl

Adjective

dismal (comparative more dismal, superlative most dismal)

  1. Disastrous, calamitous
  2. Disappointingly inadequate.
    He received a dismal compensation.
    • 2012 April 22, Sam Sheringham, “Liverpool 0-1 West Brom”, in BBC Sport:
      Liverpool's efforts thereafter had an air of desperation as their dismal 2012 league form continued.
  3. Causing despair; gloomy and bleak.
    The storm made for a dismal weekend
  4. Depressing, dreary, cheerless.
    She was lost in dismal thoughts of despair
    • 1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter XII, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y., London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:
      So, after a spell, he decided to make the best of it and shoved us into the front parlor. 'Twas a dismal sort of place, with hair wreaths, and wax fruit, and tin lambrekins, and land knows what all. It looked like a tomb and smelt pretty nigh as musty and dead-and-gone.

Synonyms

Derived terms

Collocations

with nouns
  • dismal failure
  • dismal performance
  • dismal state
  • dismal record
  • dismal place
  • dismal result
  • dismal scene
  • dismal season
  • dismal year
  • dismal economy
  • dismal future
  • dismal fate
  • dismal weather
  • dismal news
  • dismal condition
  • dismal history

Translations

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