dismal

adjective

dis·mal ˈdiz-məl

: showing or causing gloom (see gloom entry 2 sense 2) or depression

the dismal prison twilight

Charles Dickens

: lacking merit : particularly bad

a dismal performance

obsolete : disastrous, dreadful

dismally

ˈdiz-mə-lē

adverb

dismalness noun

Did you know?

The Evil History of Dismal

In late antiquity, certain days each month, called “Egyptian days,” were regarded as inauspicious, probably as a relic of ancient Egyptian belief. By the Middle Ages, people took them to be anniversaries of the Biblical plagues in Egypt. There were 24 such days per year, and in Anglo-French they were called collectively dismal (from Latin dies mali, “evil days”), and this word was borrowed into Middle English. In time the “evil days” sense was forgotten and dismal was simply taken to mean “disastrous.” The noun dismal, meaning “swamp,” goes back to the 1700s when the marshy region in Virginia and North Carolina was named the Great Dismal Swamp.

Choose the Right Synonym for dismal

dismal, dreary, bleak, gloomy, cheerless, desolate mean devoid of cheer or comfort.

dismal indicates extreme and utterly depressing gloominess.

dismal weather

dreary, often interchangeable with dismal, emphasizes discouragement resulting from sustained dullness or futility.

a dreary job

bleak suggests chill, dull, and barren characteristics that utterly dishearten.

the bleak years of the depression

gloomy often suggests lack of hope or promise.

gloomy war news

cheerless stresses absence of anything cheering.

a drab and cheerless office

desolate adds an element of utter remoteness or lack of human contact to any already disheartening aspect.

a desolate outpost

Example Sentences

The show was a dismal failure. The team's record is dismal.

Recent Examples on the Web For years, the United States has been a kind of comic underdog in the World Cup—hapless, goofy, sometimes accidentally successful but frequently deservedly dismal.

Alex Shephard, The New Republic, 2 Dec. 2022 Even so, with its latest opening to Venezuela, the White House has combined disdain for human rights with a degree of geopolitical stupidity impressive even by its own dismal standards . . .

Andrew Stuttaford, National Review, 2 Dec. 2022 But despite entering its traditionally busy holiday season, Amazon warned during its last shareholder meeting in October to expect lower sales in the future after reporting dismal earnings that fell short of Wall Street expectations.

Tristan Bove, Fortune, 1 Dec. 2022 But even by those more modest standards, this has been a dismal start.

Mark Zeigler, San Diego Union-Tribune, 30 Nov. 2022 And the zero there isn’t the only dismal data on the Cards’ chart.

Brett Dawson, The Courier-Journal, 29 Nov. 2022 Dwight Eisenhower and his generals hoped history would forget the three-month battle that cost 33,000 American casualties and ended in dismal failure.

Peter Cozzens, WSJ, 29 Nov. 2022 The Rams' losing streak and their record through 11 games matches the 1987 Giants for the worst among defending Super Bowl champs, though New York's dismal start came amid a strike resulting in the use of replacement players.

Arkansas Online, 28 Nov. 2022 Who better to capture the dismal mood in England than a group of pale, retirement-age gents who perform absolutely vile and hilarious U.K.-drill-style hip-hop?

Ian Crouch, The New Yorker, 25 Nov. 2022 See More

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'dismal.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from dismal, noun, days marked as unlucky in medieval calendars, from Anglo-French, from Medieval Latin dies mali, literally, evil days

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 3

Time Traveler

The first known use of dismal was in the 15th century

See more words from the same century