dismal

dis·mal  (dzml)

adj.

1. Causing gloom or depression; dreary: dismal weather; took a dismal view of the economy.

2. Characterized by ineptitude, dullness, or a lack of merit: a dismal book; a dismal performance on the cello.

3. Obsolete Dreadful; disastrous.

n.

Chiefly South Atlantic U.S. See pocosin. See Regional Note at pocosin.

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[Middle English, unlucky days, unlucky, from Anglo-Norman, unlucky days, from Medieval Latin dis mal : Latin dis, pl. of dis, day; see dyeu- in Indo-European roots + Latin mal, pl. of malus, evil; see mel-³ in Indo-European roots.]

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dismal·ly adv.

dismal·ness n.

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dismal

Adjective

1. gloomy and depressing

2. Informal of poor quality [Medieval Latin dies mali unlucky days]

dismally adv

Thesaurus

Adj.

1.

dismal - causing dejection; "a blue day"; "the dark days of the war"; "a week of rainy depressing weather"; "a disconsolate winter landscape"; "the first dismal dispiriting days of November"; "a dark gloomy day"; "grim rainy weather" drear, dreary, disconsolate, gloomy, dingy, sorry, drab, grim, blue, dark cheerless, depressing, uncheerful - causing sad feelings of gloom and inadequacy; "the economic outlook is depressing"; "something cheerless about the room"; "a moody and uncheerful person"; "an uncheerful place"

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dismal

adjective 1. bad, awful, dreadful, rotten (informal) terrible, poor, dire, duff Brit. (informal) abysmal, frightful, godawful (slang)

adjective 2. sad, gloomy, melancholy, black, dark, depressing, discouraging, bleak, dreary, sombre, forlorn, despondent, lugubrious, sorrowful, wretched, funereal, cheerless, dolorous << OPPOSITE happy

adjective 3. gloomy, depressing, dull, dreary, lugubrious, cheerless << OPPOSITE cheerful

Translations

dismal [ˈdɪzml] adj (= dark) → sombrío (= depressing); triste (= very bad); fatal

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dismal [ˈdɪzml] adj (= gloomy) → lugubre, maussade (= very bad); lamentable

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dismal [ˈdɪzml] adj → trübe, trostlos;

(song, person, mood) → trübsinnig;

(failure) → kläglich

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dismal [ˈdɪzml] adj → triste, cupo/a