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- pronunciation:
- dIz
m
 l
- features:
- Word Combinations (adjective), Word History, Word Explorer, Word Parts
| part of speech: |
adjective |
| definition 1: |
cheerless or depressing; gloomy.
The room was dismal, with tiny windows, filthy curtains, and gray walls.She complained of the region's dismal climate.Visiting him in the field hospital was a dismal experience.- synonyms:
- cheerless, dreary, gloomy, somber
- antonyms:
- cheerful, convivial, rosy
- similar words:
- black, bleak, dark, disconsolate, drab, funereal, grim, melancholy, miserable, moody, morose, sad, sullen, tenebrous
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| definition 2: |
pitiful, inept, or uninteresting.
His dismal joke was met only with quizzical looks.It was a chore to read such dismal essays.Their efforts resulted in dismal failure.- synonyms:
- awful, miserable, uninteresting
- similar words:
- abysmal, boring, dreadful, inept, inferior, pitiful, terrible, weak
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| related words: |
chill, cloudy, dim, dreary, dull, lugubrious, murky, overcast, vile, wretched |
adverb + (adj.)dismal
equally, fairly, likely, otherwise, pretty, rather, utterly
(adj.)dismal
+ noun
approval,
circumstance,
climate,
condition,
decade,
earnings,
economy,
employment,
enterprise,
failure,
fate,
finish,
flop,
future,
housing,
indicator,
legacy,
mood,
outcome,
outlook,
performance,
picture,
poverty,
prediction,
present,
prognosis,
prospect,
rain,
rating,
record,
reputation,
result,
scenario,
science,
score,
season,
showing,
situation,
start,
statistics,
strip,
surroundings,
swamp,
track,
unemployment,
weather
[See all][See only the most frequent]
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| derivations: |
dismally (adv.), dismalness (n.) |
Dismal is from dies male, a Latin phrase that means "evil days." In medieval Britain, two days in each month were marked on the calendar as unlucky days.
The word dismal
contains the following part:
mal, male
Latin
root
that means bad, evil, ill
  Example words:
dismal, maladjusted, maladminister, maladroit, malady, malaise, malapropism, malapropos, malaria, malcontent, malediction, malefaction, malefactor, malefic, maleficence, maleficent, malevolent, malfeasance, malformation, malfunction, malice, malicious, malign, malignant, malinger, malnutrition, malocclusion, malodorous, malpractice, malversation
- antonyms:
- ben, bene, bon
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