abysmal

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /əˈbɪzməl/ UK /əˈbɪzml/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

adj
extremely bad; appalling

The team's abysmal performance cost them the championship.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · extremely bad; appalling appalling atrocious dreadful terrible awful dire wretched

Opposites

excellent superb outstanding wonderful

Word family

Derived forms abysmally

Related forms abyssabyssal

Simplified etymology

Abysmal originally meant ‘very deep’ and shares its source with abyss, ultimately from Greek abussos ‘bottomless’. Its familiar sense ‘utterly appalling’ developed around the beginning of the 19th century.

Etymology

From abysm (an archaic form of 'abyss') + -al, ultimately from Late Latin abyssus, from Ancient Greek ábyssos ('bottomless'). The figurative sense 'extremely bad' arose in the 19th century from the literal 'bottomless, immeasurable'.

abyssus Late Latin ábyssos Ancient Greek

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# abysmal

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /əˈbɪzməl/
**IPA (UK):** /əˈbɪzml/

## Meanings
1. extremely bad; appalling

## Examples
- The team's abysmal performance cost them the championship.

## Synonyms
- appalling
- atrocious
- dreadful
- terrible
- awful
- dire
- wretched

## Antonyms
- excellent
- superb
- outstanding
- wonderful

## Derived Forms
- abysmally

## Related Forms
- abyss
- abyssal

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: abyssus
- Root: ábyssos

## Etymology
From abysm (an archaic form of 'abyss') + -al, ultimately from Late Latin abyssus, from Ancient Greek ábyssos ('bottomless'). The figurative sense 'extremely bad' arose in the 19th century from the literal 'bottomless, immeasurable'.

## AI Etymology
Abysmal comes from abysm (an archaic form of 'abyss') + -al, ultimately from Late Latin abyssus, from Ancient Greek ábyssos ('bottomless'). The figurative sense 'extremely bad' arose in the 19th century from the literal 'bottomless, immeasurable'. The historical trail runs through Late Latin abyssus and Ancient Greek ábyssos. Morphologically, the surface form is analyzable into prefixes, suffixes, compounds, or participial endings that carry part of the history. The later sense follows a semantic development already present in the word's history. In modern use it means extremely bad; appalling. Derived formations include abysmally; related forms include abyss, abyssal.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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