dismal

C1 Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˈdɪzməl/ See IPA manual

Freq #21852

Meanings

1

adj
Sad, gloomy, and depressing.

The storm made for a dismal weekend.
2

adj
Very bad or disappointingly poor.

The team's performance this season has been dismal.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · sad, gloomy, and depressing. bleak cheerless dreary depressing

2 adj · very bad or disappointingly... inadequate poor

Word family

Forms dismallerdismallest

Derived forms dismalisedismalitydismalizedismallydismalnessundismal

Simplified etymology

Dismal comes from Latin dies mali, meaning “evil days,” the name for twenty-four days, two in each month, that medieval people considered unlucky. English first used the dismal and soon the clearer dismal days for these days. The expression broadened to any time of disaster, gloom, or depression, or to old age, and by the early 16th century dismal could describe a person.

Etymology

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”).

dismal Middle English (li) dis mals Old French diēs malī la-med

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# dismal

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C1
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /ˈdɪzməl/
**Frequency rank:** 21852

## Meanings
1. Sad, gloomy, and depressing.
2. Very bad or disappointingly poor.

## Examples
- The storm made for a dismal weekend.
- The team's performance this season has been dismal.

## Derived Forms
- dismalise
- dismality
- dismalize
- dismally
- dismalness
- undismal

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: dismal
- Root: (li) dis mals
- Root: diēs malī

## Etymology
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”).

## AI Etymology
Dismal is 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”). In present-day use, it can mean sad, gloomy, and depressing, or very bad or disappointingly poor. Derived formations include dismalise, dismality, dismalize, dismally, dismalness.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Word Formation & Derivatives

markdown