Meaning

4 senses
  1. Disastrous, calamitous.

  2. Disappointingly inadequate.

    He received a dismal compensation.

    unzureichend, unzulänglich, jämmerlich

  3. Causing despair; gloomy and bleak.

    The storm made for a dismal weekend

    traurig, trübe, trostlos

    мра́чныйmráčnyj, угрю́мыйugrjúmyj, уны́лыйunýlyj

    causing dejection

  4. Depressing, dreary, cheerless.

    She was lost in dismal thoughts of despair

    unglücklich, deprimiert, deprimierend

    гнету́щийgnetúščij, уны́лыйunýlyj

Examples

12 sentences
  1. The prospects for Japan's future look dismal.

    Перспективи майбутнього Японії виглядають гнітюче. — deniko

    ruПерспективы будущего Японии выглядят удручающе. — odexed

    deDie Aussichten für Japans Zukunft sind düster. — Tamy

  2. It was a dismal failure.

  3. Sales were apparently dismal.

  4. The rain made the autumn day dismal.

    ruДождь сделал осенний день унылым. — shanghainese

    deRegen verdüsterte den Herbsttag. — Yorwba

  5. Edison's talking doll was a dismal failure.

    ruГоворящая кукла Эдисона провалилась с треском. — Ooneykcall

Translations

6 languages
Русский
By meaning 2
gloomy and bleak:
depressing:
Deutsch
By meaning 3
disappointingly inadequate:
gloomy and bleak:
depressing:

Origin

From Middle English dismal, dismale, from Anglo-Norman dismal, from Old French (li) dis ma

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”).

Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source

Dictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.

dismal — meaning, examples, forms, synonyms | Krumeto