English Explanatory Dictionary

dismal

English dictionary entry

Meanings

adj
  1. Disastrous, calamitous.
  2. Disappointingly inadequate.
  3. Causing despair; gloomy and bleak.
  4. Depressing, dreary, cheerless.
noun
  1. A dreary swamp in eastern North Carolina or Virginia in the United States.

Pronunciation

/ˈdɪzməl/ en-us-dismal.ogg

Word forms

dismal more dismal most dismal dismals

Etymology

From Middle English dismal, dismale, from Anglo-Norman dismal, from Old French (li) dis mals (“(the) bad days”), from Medieval Latin diēs malī (“bad days”).

Synonyms

cataclysmic catastrophic ruinous meager paltry awanting deficient dismal exiguous geason inadequate insufficient lank lean lousy measly poor raunchy scant scantling scanty scarce skimpy sleazy slender spare sparse threadbare unsatisfactory unsufficient wanting wanty desolate dreary cheerless comfortless bleak dark morose depressing dire disconsolate doleful dolesome drear drearisome dreich forlorn gayless gray gloomsome gloomy grim joyless lack-laughter lugubrious melancholy mirthless miserable no joke

Related words

the dismals

Derived words

dismal Dora dismalise dismality dismalize dismal Jimmy dismally dismalness dismal science Dismal Swamp Great Dismal Swamp undismal
This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
Back to search All on D Russian dictionary Dahl dictionary