Dismal

/ˈdɪzməl/ · adjective

Meaning

Disastrous, calamitous..

Definitions by Sense

1. Disastrous, calamitous.
2. Disappointingly inadequate.
3. Causing despair; gloomy and bleak.
4. Depressing, dreary, cheerless.
5. (US, especially North Carolina, possibly dated) A dreary swamp in eastern North Carolina or Virginia in the United States.

Example Sentences

He received a dismal compensation.

Liverpool's efforts thereafter had an air of desperation as their dismal 2012 league form continued.

The storm made for a dismal weekend

She was lost in dismal thoughts of despair

So, after a spell, he decided to make the best of it and shoved us into the front parlor. 'Twas a dismal sort 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.

.[…] 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 lands will produce their usual effects in ameliorating the climate and that the tidal portions of No. Caro- lina may thus[…]

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.

Synonyms for dismal

Antonyms for dismal

Related Words

Word Forms

• more dismal
• most dismal
• dismals

Usage Notes

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