dismal


Also found in: Thesaurus, Idioms.
Related to dismal: Dismal Science, Dismal Swamp

dis·mal

 (dĭz′məl)
adj.
1. Causing gloom or depression; dreary: dismal weather; took a dismal view of the economy.
2. Characterized by ineptitude, dullness, or a lack of merit: a dismal book; a dismal performance on the cello.
3. Obsolete Dreadful; disastrous.
n.
Chiefly South Atlantic US See pocosin.

[Middle English, unlucky days, unlucky, from Anglo-Norman, unlucky days, from Medieval Latin diēs malī : Latin diēs, pl. of diēs, day; see dyeu- in Indo-European roots + Latin malī, pl. of malus, evil; see mel- in Indo-European roots.]

dis′mal·ly adv.
dis′mal·ness n.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

dismal

(ˈdɪzməl)
adj
1. causing gloom or depression
2. causing dismay or terror
3. of poor quality or a low standard; feeble
[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]
ˈdismally adv
ˈdismalness n
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

dis•mal

(ˈdɪz məl)

adj.
1. causing gloom or dejection; dreary; cheerless.
2. characterized by ineptness or lack of skill or interest.
3. Obs. calamitous.
n.
4. Southern U.S. a tract of swampy land.
[1275–1325; Middle English dismale unlucky time, dismol day one of two days in each month considered unlucky (hence later taken as adj.) < Anglo-French dis mal < Medieval Latin diēs malī literally, evil days]
dis′mal•ly, adv.
dis′mal•ness, n.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

dismal

- Comes from French dies mali, "evil days," and first meant the 24 evil or unlucky days of the medieval calendar (two per month).
See also related terms for unlucky.
Farlex Trivia Dictionary. © 2012 Farlex, Inc. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Adj.1.dismal - causing dejection; "a blue day"; "the dark days of the war"; "a week of rainy depressing weather"; "a disconsolate winter landscape"; "the first dismal dispiriting days of November"; "a dark gloomy day"; "grim rainy weather"
cheerless, depressing, uncheerful - causing sad feelings of gloom and inadequacy; "the economic outlook is depressing"; "something cheerless about the room"; "a moody and uncheerful person"; "an uncheerful place"
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

dismal

adjective
1. bad, awful, dreadful, rotten (informal), terrible, poor, dire, duff (Brit. informal), abysmal, frightful, godawful (slang) the country's dismal record in the Olympics
3. gloomy, depressing, dull, dreary, lugubrious, cheerless The main part of the hospital is pretty dismal.
gloomy bright, sunny, cheerful
Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

dismal

adjective
1. Tending to cause sadness or low spirits:
3. Marked by little hopefulness:
The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Translations
كَئيب، مُحْزِنمُوْحِش
chmurnýpochmurnýponurýsmutný
dysterelendig
synkkäsurullinen
turoban
dapurlegur
陰気な
음침한
niūriairūškanas
drūmsnospiedošs
mračenzlovešč
förskräcklig
หดหู่
ảm đạm

dismal

[ˈdɪzməl] ADJ
1. (= gloomy, depressing) [weather] → deprimente; [place] → sombrío, deprimente; [day, tone, thought] → sombrío; [person] → taciturno, de carácter sombrío
to be in a dismal moodestar or sentirse abatido
2. (= poor) [performance, condition] → pésimo; [future] → desalentador, poco prometedor
my prospects of getting a job are dismal/pretty dismalmis posibilidades de conseguir un trabajo son ínfimas/bastante escasas
a dismal failureun rotundo fracaso
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

dismal

[ˈdɪzməl] adj
[place] → lugubre; [day] → maussade
[performance, results] → lamentable; [prospects] → sombre
a dismal failure → un échec lamentable
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

dismal

adj
(= depressing) place, building, day, prospect, weathertrostlos; thoughttrüb; it makes dismal readinges ist bedrückend zu lesen; the dismal science (= economics)politische Ökonomie
(= poor) performancekläglich, miserabel; prospectsmiserabel; the dismal state of the economydie miserable Wirtschaftslage; to be a dismal failurekläglich scheitern
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

dismal

[ˈdɪzml] adj (gloomy) → tetro/a, cupo/a; (weather) → grigio/a
it was a dismal failure → è stato un misero fallimento
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

dismal

(ˈdizməl) adjective
gloomy. dismal news; Don't look so dismal!
ˈdismally adverb
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.

dismal

مُوْحِش pochmurný elendig trostlos ζοφερός funesto, sombrío synkkä maussade turoban fosco 陰気な 음침한 ellendig dyster posępny sombrio мрачный förskräcklig หดหู่ iç karartıcı ảm đạm 阴暗的
Multilingual Translator © HarperCollins Publishers 2009
References in classic literature ?
Snodgrass politely welcomed the gentleman, elegantly designated as 'Dismal Jemmy'; and calling for brandy-and-water, in imitation of the remainder of the company, seated themselves at the table.
I thought it had the most dismal trees in it, and the most dismal sparrows, and the most dismal cats, and the most dismal houses (in number half a dozen or so), that I had ever seen.
Hunt's followers, enfeebled and rendered imaginative of horrors by the dismal scenes and sufferings through which they had passed.
By the lakes that thus outspread Their lone waters, lone and dead, - Their sad waters, sad and chilly With the snows of the lolling lily, - By the mountains - near the river Murmuring lowly, murmuring ever, - By the grey woods, - by the swamp Where the toad and the newt encamp, - By the dismal tarns and pools Where dwell the Ghouls, - By each spot the most unholy - In each nook most melancholy, - There the traveller meets aghast Sheeted Memories of the Past - Shrouded forms that start and sigh As they pass the wanderer by - White-robed forms of friends long given, In agony, to the Earth - and Heaven.
Whosoever had gone out of Fleet Street into the Temple at the date of this history, and had wandered disconsolate about the Temple until he stumbled on a dismal churchyard, and had looked up at the dismal windows commanding that churchyard until at the most dismal window of them all he saw a dismal boy, would in him have beheld, at one grand comprehensive swoop of the eye, the managing clerk, junior clerk, common-law clerk, conveyancing clerk, chancery clerk, every refinement and department of clerk, of Mr Mortimer Lightwood, erewhile called in the newspapers eminent solicitor.
It was nearly in the heart of the town, yet by night it was as gruesome a place as the most dismal of human moods could crave.
God willed, no doubt, to open to this elect the treasures of eternal beatitude, at this hour when other men tremble with the idea of being severely received by the Lord, and cling to this life they know, in the dread of the other life of which they get but merest glimpses by the dismal murky torch of death.
To be shelterless and alone in the open country, hearing the wind moan and watching for day through the whole long weary night; to listen to the falling rain, and crouch for warmth beneath the lee of some old barn or rick, or in the hollow of a tree; are dismal things--but not so dismal as the wandering up and down where shelter is, and beds and sleepers are by thousands; a houseless rejected creature.
Vast, vast -- an endless wilderness of sand; A stream crawls through its tawny banks; the hills Encompass it; where in the dismal dusk Moan the last sighs of sunset.
There is no mistaking that sensation, so dismal, so tormenting and so subtle, so full of unhappiness and unrest.
The Beaver, who happened to hear the remark, Protested, with tears in its eyes, That not even the rapture of hunting the Snark Could atone for that dismal surprise!
I found a dismal letter from him on my arrival here, full of complaints of his wife and sister, and lamentations on the cruelty of his fate.