dismal
Americanadjective
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causing gloom or dejection; gloomy; dreary; cheerless; melancholy.
dismal weather.
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characterized by ineptness or lack of skill, competence, effectiveness, imagination, or interest; pitiful.
Our team played a dismal game.
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Obsolete.
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disastrous; calamitous.
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unlucky; sinister.
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noun
adjective
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causing gloom or depression
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causing dismay or terror
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of poor quality or a low standard; feeble
Other Word Forms
- dismality noun
- dismally adverb
- dismalness noun
Etymology
Origin of dismal
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. )
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The run to the last four comes after the dismal Ashes defeat, which brought the future of coach Brendon McCullum into question.
From BBC
Wales' dismal run continued with a painful defeat that was summed up by Tomos Williams giving away a costly penalty for a croc roll.
From BBC
The managed care company reported a surprise quarterly loss and issued dismal guidance for the current fiscal year, citing the implementation of a new Medicaid contract and underperformance in its Medicare Advantage Part D product.
From Barron's
Pereira had been out of work since being sacked by Wolves in November after a dismal start to this season.
From Barron's
One of the ominous lessons is that the real danger to ordinary investors may not be a short-term “crash” but a long period of dismal returns.
From MarketWatch
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
