dismal
English · Thesaurus
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dismal
- /ˈdɪzməl/
Rhymes with -ɪzməl
Where it comes from
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”).
adjective more dismal · most dismal
-
Disastrous, calamitous.
Similar: cataclysmic, catastrophic, ruinous
-
Disappointingly inadequate.
He received a dismal compensation.
Similar: meager, paltry, awanting, deficient, dismal, exiguous, geason, inadequate, insufficient, lank, lean, lousy
-
Causing despair; gloomy and bleak.
The storm made for a dismal weekend
Similar: desolate, dreary, cheerless, comfortless, bleak, dark, morose, depressing, dire, disconsolate, dismal, doleful
-
Depressing, dreary, cheerless.
She was lost in dismal thoughts of despair
Similar: sorrowful, mournful, atrabiliary, atrabilious, blitheless, dispirited, blue, bummed out, chapfallen, cheerless, chopfallen, crestfallen
noun dismals
- A dreary swamp in eastern North Carolina or Virginia in the United States. .[…] 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 the dismals of the seaboard. No reasonable doubt can be entertained that the clearing and draining of the
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: dispiriting, depressing, disconsolate, cheerless, grim, dreary, drear, gloomy, drab, dingy, dark, uncheerful, sorry, blue, disheartened, disheartening
Translations
Every language
adj disappointingly inadequate
| Español | pésimo, mísero |
|---|---|
| हिन्दी | निराशाजनक nirāśājnak |
| Português | inadequado |
| Français | lamentable, misérable |
| Deutsch | unzureichend, unzulänglich, jämmerlich, kläglich, miserabel |
| Română | dezamagitor de inadecvat |
adj gloomy and bleak
| Español | lúgubre, funesto, tétrico |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 음침하다 eumchimhada |
| हिन्दी | मनहूस manhūs, वीरान vīrān, सुनसान sunsān, उजाड़ ujāṛ, लक़दक़ laqdaq, तमस्वी tamasvī |
| Português | sombrio |
| Français | morne, lugubre |
| Deutsch | traurig, trübe, trostlos, freudlos, düster, finster |
| Ελληνικά | θλιβερός thliverós, ζοφερός zoferós |
| Русский | мра́чный mráčnyj, угрю́мый ugrjúmyj, уны́лый unýlyj |
adj depressing
| Français | déprimant |
|---|---|
| Deutsch | unglücklich, deprimiert, deprimierend, traurig, trostlos, freudlos |
| Ελληνικά | θλιβερός thliverós |
| Română | deprimant |
| Русский | гнету́щий gnetúščij, уны́лый unýlyj |
| עברית | מדכא medake |
Talk about this word "dismal." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/dismal. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. dismal. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/dismal "dismal." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/dismal.Cite this
@misc{dismal_2026,
title = {dismal},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/dismal},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
