dismay

C1 Topic:Emotions & Feelings

US /dɪsˈmeɪ/ See IPA manual

Freq #29294

Meanings

1

noun
A strong feeling of disappointment, sadness, or alarm.

To her dismay, the train had already left the station.
2

verb
To make someone feel disappointed, worried, or upset.

The sudden rise in prices dismayed local shoppers.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a strong feeling of... consternation alarm

2 verb · to make someone feel... alarm appall daunt

Word family

Forms dismayeddismayingdismays

Derived forms dismayerdismayfulundismayable

Etymology

From Middle English dismayen, from Anglo-Norman *desmaiier, alteration of Old French esmaier (“to frighten”), probably from Vulgar Latin *exmagare (“to deprive (someone) of strength, to disable”), from ex- + *magare (“to enable, empower”), from Proto-Germanic *maginą, *maganą (“might, power”), from Proto-Indo-European *megʰ- (“to be able”). Akin to Old High German magan, megin (“power, might, main”), Old English mæġen (“might, main”), Old High German magan, mugan (“to be powerful, able”), Old English magan (“to be able”). Cognate with Portuguese desmaiar (“to faint”) and Spanish esmayar. See a…

dismayen Middle English *desmaiier xno esmaier Old French *exmagare la-vul *maginą Proto-Germanic *megʰ- Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Emotions & Feelings Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# dismay

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C1
**Part of speech:** noun, verb
**IPA (US):** /dɪsˈmeɪ/
**Frequency rank:** 29294

## Meanings
1. A strong feeling of disappointment, sadness, or alarm.
2. To make someone feel disappointed, worried, or upset.

## Examples
- To her dismay, the train had already left the station.
- The sudden rise in prices dismayed local shoppers.

## Derived Forms
- dismayer
- dismayful
- undismayable

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: dismayen
- Root: *desmaiier
- Root: esmaier
- Root: *exmagare
- Root: *maginą
- Root: *megʰ-

## Etymology
From Middle English dismayen, from Anglo-Norman *desmaiier, alteration of Old French esmaier (“to frighten”), probably from Vulgar Latin *exmagare (“to deprive (someone) of strength, to disable”), from ex- + *magare (“to enable, empower”), from Proto-Germanic *maginą, *maganą (“might, power”), from Proto-Indo-European *megʰ- (“to be able”). Akin to Old High German magan, megin (“power, might, main”), Old English mæġen (“might, main”), Old High German magan, mugan (“to be powerful, able”), Old English magan (“to be able”). Cognate with Portuguese desmaiar (“to faint”) and Spanish esmayar. See a…

## AI Etymology
Dismay is from Middle English dismayen, from Anglo-Norman *desmaiier, alteration of Old French esmaier (“to frighten”), probably from Vulgar Latin *exmagare (“to deprive (someone) of strength, to disable”), from ex- + *magare (“to enable, empower”), from Proto-Germanic *maginą, *maganą (“might, power”), from Proto-Indo-European *megʰ- (“to be able”). Akin to Old High German magan, megin (“power, might, main”), Old English mæġen (“might, main”), Old High German magan, mugan (“to be powerful, able”), Old English magan (“to be able”). Cognate with Portuguese desmaiar (“to faint”) and Spanish esmayar. See a… In present-day use, it can mean a strong feeling of disappointment, sadness, or alarm, or to make someone feel disappointed, worried, or upset.

## Topics
- Emotions & Feelings
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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