abysmal

American  

[uh-biz-muhl] / əˈbɪz məl /

adjective

1. of or like an abyss; immeasurably deep or great.

2. extremely or hopelessly bad or severe.

   abysmal ignorance; abysmal poverty.

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abysmal British  

/ əˈbɪzməl /

adjective

1. immeasurable; very great

   abysmal stupidity

2. informal extremely bad

   an abysmal film

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Other Word Forms

• abysmally adverb
• ultra-abysmal adjective

Etymology

Origin of abysmal

First recorded in 1650–60; abysm + -al ¹

Example Sentences

"I'm grateful for the staff there because I think had they not been as good as they were, my whole journey there would have been absolutely abysmal, because I felt really, really rubbish," she said.

From BBC

As if the ugliness of the 120 minutes wasn't enough - the grisly battle, the hair-on-fire panic, the abysmal lack of anything resembling coherence or even competence - there was the disgrace of the post-match.

From BBC

We are drowning in a sea of abysmal, artificially generated prose.

From The Wall Street Journal

However, their record at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium this season is frankly abysmal, so can they expect to turn their form around against fellow strugglers?

From BBC

For the rest of the time, the returns were abysmal.

From MarketWatch