dismal

[diz-muhl]

adjective

1. causing gloom or dejection; gloomy; dreary; cheerless; melancholy.

   dismal weather.

   Antonyms: gay, cheerful

2. characterized by ineptness or lack of skill, competence, effectiveness, imagination, or interest; pitiful.

   Our team played a dismal game.

   Synonyms: dreadful, abysmal, hopeless

3. Obsolete.

   1. disastrous; calamitous.

   2. unlucky; sinister.

noun

1. Southern U.S.,  a tract of swampy land, usually along the coast.

dismal

/ ˈdɪzməl /

adjective

1. causing gloom or depression

2. causing dismay or terror

3. of poor quality or a low standard; feeble

Other Word Forms

• dismalness noun
• dismally adverb
• dismality noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of dismal¹

First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English dismale “unlucky time,” dismol day one of two days in each month considered unlucky (hence later taken as adjective), from Anglo-French dis mal, from Medieval Latin diēs malī, literally, “evil days”; diary ( def. ), mal- ( def. )

Word History and Origins

Origin of dismal¹

C13: from dismal (noun) list of 24 unlucky days in the year, from Medieval Latin diēs malī bad days, from Latin diēs day + malus bad

Example Sentences

From the streets of Israel’s main cities to the dismal displacement camps of the Gaza Strip, this week’s deal was cause for celebration.

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Yet the laughs, the warmth, the love and the faith-based fellowship die out in the dismal final act.

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Any money Swift’s film brings to the domestic box office would be welcomed by Hollywood, Dergarabedian said, which had a dismal summer at the box office.

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The housing market is stuck in its third straight year of dismal sales.

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On paper, a world where one kills to work sounds like a dismal dystopian thriller.

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Related Words

• depressing 
• dim 
• discouraging www.thesaurus.com
• disheartening 
• dull 
• ghastly 
• horrible 
• horrid 
• miserable 
• murky 
• sad