dismal
English
Etymology
From Middle English dismal, dismale, from Anglo-Norman dismal, from Old French (li) dis mals (“(the) bad days”), from Medieval Latin diēs mālī (“bad days”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈdɪzməl/
Audio (US) (file) - Rhymes: -ɪzməl
Adjective
dismal (comparative more dismal, superlative most dismal)
- Disastrous, calamitous
- 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.
- Causing despair; gloomy and bleak.
- The storm made for a dismal weekend
- Depressing, dreary, cheerless.
- She was lost in dismal thoughts of despair
- 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, chapter 12, in Mr. Pratt's Patients:
- 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
- See also Thesaurus:cheerless
Derived terms
- dismal Jimmy
- dismal science
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
disappointingly inadequate
|
gloomy and bleak
|
depressing
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Anagrams
- almids