dismal

English

Etymology

FromMiddle Englishdismal,dismale,fromAnglo-Normandismal,fromOld French(li)dismals(“(the) bad days”),fromMedieval Latindiēsmalī(“bad days”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):/ˈdɪzməl/

• Audio(US):

  (file)

• Rhymes:-ɪzməl

Adjective

dismal(comparativemoredismal,superlativemostdismal)

1. Disastrous,calamitous.
2. Disappointinglyinadequate.

   He received adismalcompensation.

   • 2012April 22, Sam Sheringham, “Liverpool 0-1 West Brom”,inBBC Sport:

     Liverpool's efforts thereafter had an air of desperation as theirdismal2012 league form continued.

3. Causing despair;gloomyandbleak.

   The storm made for adismalweekend

4. Depressing,dreary, cheerless.

   She was lost indismalthoughts of despair

   • 1913,Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln,chapter XII, inMr. Pratt’s Patients,New York, N.Y., London:D[aniel] Appleton and Company,→OCLC:

     So, after a spell, he decided to make the best of it and shoved us into the front parlor. 'Twas adismalsort of place, with hair wreaths, and wax fruit, and tin lambrekins, and land knows what all. It looked like a tomb and smelt pretty nigh as musty and dead-and-gone.

Synonyms

• See alsoThesaurus:cheerless

Derived terms

• dismal Dora
• dismalise
• dismality
• dismalize
• dismal Jimmy
• dismally
• dismalness
• dismal science
• undismal

Collocations

with nouns

• dismal failure
• dismal performance
• dismal state
• dismal record
• dismal place
• dismal result
• dismal scene
• dismal season
• dismal year
• dismal economy
• dismal future
• dismal fate
• dismal weather
• dismal news
• dismal condition
• dismal history

Translations

disappointingly inadequate

• Czech:neradostný,neuspokojivý,tristní(cs),katastrofální(cs),žalostný
• Finnish:surkea(fi)
• French:lamentable(fr),misérable(fr)
• German:unzureichend(de),unzulänglich(de),jämmerlich(de),kläglich(de),miserabel(de)
• Hindi:निराशाजनक(nirāśājnak)
• Hungarian:elszomorító(hu),sikertelen(hu)
• Portuguese:inadequado(pt)
• Romanian:dezamagitor de inadecvat
• Spanish:mísero(es),miserable(es),triste(es)
• Turkish:berbat(tr)

gloomy and bleak

• Bulgarian:мра́чен(bg)(mráčen)
• Czech:chmurný,neradostný,bezútěšný,neutěšený(cs),pochmurný(cs)
• Dutch:akelig(nl)
• Finnish:synkkä(fi),surullinen(fi),ankea(fi)
• French:morne(fr),lugubre(fr)
• German:traurig(de),trübe(de),trostlos(de),freudlos(de),düster(de),finster(de),trist(de),trüb(de),fade(de),fad(de),trübselig(de),trübsinnig(de)
• Hindi:मनहूस(hi)(manhūs),वीरान(hi)(vīrān),सुनसान(hi)(sunsān),उजाड़(hi)(ujāṛ),लक़दक़(laqdaq),तमस्वी(hi)(tamasvī),तमोमय(hi)(tamomay),फीका(hi)(phīkā),रूखा(hi)(rūkhā),मलिन(hi)(malin)
• Hungarian:szomorú(hu),sötét(hu),bús(hu)
• Korean:음침하다(eumchimhada)
• Latin:funestus
• Maori:poururu,whakapoururu
• Norwegian:stusslig(no)
• Ottoman Turkish:آجی(acı)(of sounds)
• Portuguese:sombrio(pt)
• Russian:мра́чный(ru)(mráčnyj),угрю́мый(ru)(ugrjúmyj),уны́лый(ru)(unýlyj)
• Spanish:triste(es)
• Turkish:kasvetli(tr)(e.g of weather)

depressing

• Bulgarian:тъ́жен(bg)(tǎ́žen),уни́л(bg)(uníl)
• Czech:deprimující,depresivní,chmurný,pochmurný(cs)
• Finnish:surullinen(fi),synkeä(fi),synkkä(fi)
• French:déprimant(fr)
• German:unglücklich(de),deprimiert(de),deprimierend(de),traurig(de),trostlos(de),freudlos(de),düster(de),finster(de),trist(de),trübselig(de),trübsinnig(de)
• Hebrew:מדכא(he)m(medake)
• Hungarian:szomorú(hu),lehangoló(hu),gyászos(hu),komor(hu),vigasztalan(hu)
• Ottoman Turkish:آجی(acı)(of sounds)
• Romanian:deprimant(ro)
• Russian:гнету́щий(ru)(gnetúščij),уны́лый(ru)(unýlyj)
• Scottish Gaelic:brònach
• Spanish:deprimente

Noun

dismal(pluraldismals)

1. (US,especiallyNorth Carolina,possiblydated)Adrearyswampin easternNorth CarolinaorVirginiain theUnited States.
   • 1908,Charles Lee Coon,The Beginnings of Public Education in North Carolina: A Documentary History, 1790-1840,page949:

     .[…]the proprietors of all the great unimproved tracts of Swamp lands will form themselves into Drainage Companies, by which method alone can we ever hope to witness the complete reclamation of thedismalsof the seaboard. No reasonable doubt can be entertained that the clearing and draining of the lands will produce their usual effects in ameliorating the climate and that the tidal portions of No. Caro- lina may thus[…]

   • 2020May 1, Hudson, Berman,Our Good Earth: A Natural History of Soil,Algora Publishing,→ISBN,page167:

     The term "Dismal" requires some clarification. At one time, all large swamps in eastern North Carolina were commonly referred to as "dismals," probably because they were so gloomy, dreary, and dark, and there are a lot of swamps or "dismals"in eastern North Carolina.

See also

• the dismals(“melancholy state”)

Anagrams

• almids