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

Derived Forms

• ˈdismalness, noun
• ˈdismally, adverb

Other Words From

• dismal·ly adverb
• dismal·ness dis·mali·ty 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

Jakub Vrana's dismal turnover in the offensive zone led to the rush the opposite way — and the eventual game-winner.

From Washington Post

“I suppose my larger intention was to add some light, levity and beauty to an otherwise dismal year,” she said.

From Washington Post

This apparent bet-hedging did not seem to go over well with investors, who were asked by Bakish to overlook the company’s dismal fourth-quarter earnings that included a net loss of $273 million.

From Digiday

“We need cities to act with urgency so that we can start improving the very dismal housing supply we have now,” she said.

From Voice of San Diego

While King County Metro received some federal aid for short-term survival, its prospects in the longer term are dismal, with the agency projecting more than $600 million in lost revenues through 2022.

From Time

While it is sadly too late for Ms. Peña, there is hope beyond these dismal facts.

From The Daily Beast

But there was still a paper to get out in Washington, and I went there late in the afternoon to tackle the dismal job.

From The Daily Beast

GBM is a devastating diagnosis for a neurosurgeon to deliver to a patient and their family, one with a dismal outcome.

From The Daily Beast

It sounds like a dismal new episode of the new 24: Live Another Day.

From The Daily Beast

Ryan McGarry M.D., director of the documentary Code Black, addresses the dismal state of urgent care.

From The Daily Beast

I need not inquire whether his dismal behaviour was natural or assumed.

From Project Gutenberg

And when he did leave the dismal scene of this last act of his miseries, it was like the spectre of the man who had entered it.

From Project Gutenberg

My railway life began on a drizzling dismal day in the early autumn.

From Project Gutenberg

The light which discovered its dismal bounds to his solitary eyes, came from a small grated aperture in the vaulted roof.

From Project Gutenberg

It was still in the verge of possibility that his son might seek his father in that dismal chamber.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• depressing
• dim
• discouraging
• disheartening
• dull
• ghastly
• horrible
• horrid
• miserable
• murky
• sad