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

Explanation

If you want to say something is really, really bad — then call it abysmal. If one person shows up to your party, well then that is an abysmal turnout. The 1958 Ford Edsel? An abysmal failure. When someone describes the hole you just dug as abysmal, you may not know whether to take it as positive or negative feedback. That's because starting in the 1650s, abysmal simply meant “resembling an abyss in depth.” By that definition you've just received a compliment on your deep digging skills. But since the early twentieth century, abysmal has been more commonly used to identify something as "extremely bad." So it's more likely that your hole has just been insulted.

Example Sentences

One reason investors have soured on 60/40 funds recently is their abysmal returns in 2022, when major stock and bond indexes both fell at once.

From Barron's • Apr. 3, 2026

"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 • Mar. 10, 2026

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

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 5, 2026

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

From MarketWatch • Feb. 18, 2026

And that night the others lying on the floor in their squares watched Hughie ooze gracefully into his cot—they heard him sigh with abysmal comfort and he was asleep and snoring before anyone else.

From "Cannery Row" by John Steinbeck