abysmal
English
Etymology
abysm + -al
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /əˈbɪz.məl/
Audio (US) (file) - Rhymes: -ɪzməl
Adjective
abysmal (comparative more abysmal, superlative most abysmal)
- (now rare) Pertaining to, or resembling an abyss. [First attested in the mid 17th century.][1]
- Synonyms: unending, profound, fathomless, immeasurable
- 1851, Thomas Carlyle, The Life of John Sterling, London: Chapman and Hall, […], OCLC 2742477:
- The latter [geology] gives one the same sort of bewildering view of the abysmal extent of Time that Astronomy does of Space. [First attested in the early 19th century.][1]
- (figuratively) extremely bad; terrible.
- 2012 June 9, Owen Phillips, “Euro 2012: Netherlands 0-1 Denmark”, in BBC Sport:
- Robben curled an effort against the foot of the post from the edge of the box after being gifted the ball by an abysmal clearance from keeper Stephan Andersen.
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Collocations
with nouns
- abysmal ignorance
- abysmal record
- abysmal performance
- abysmal poverty
- abysmal conditions
- abysmal quality
- abysmal result
- abysmal service
- abysmal failure
Translations
pertaining to, or resembling an abyss; bottomless; unending; profound
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extremely bad
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
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References
- Lesley Brown, editor-in-chief; William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, editors (2002), “abysmal”, in The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles, 5th edition, Oxford; New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 11.
Further reading
- abysmal in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
- abysmal in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911
Anagrams
- balsamy
Portuguese
Adjective
abysmal m or f (plural abysmaes)
- Obsolete spelling of abismal