dismal
/'dizməl/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
- Adjective:
- Causing or showing sadness, gloom, or depression: "dismal" describes something that makes one feel dejected, sorrowful, or without cheer. It often refers to environments, weather, or situations that are bleak and dreary.
- Extremely poor or bad in quality: In a more informal sense, "dismal" can describe something that is utterly inadequate or of very low standard.
Examples of Usage
- Adjective:
- The weather was so dismal that we canceled the picnic. (The gloomy, depressing weather caused the event's cancellation.)
- She felt a dismal sense of failure after the project was rejected. (She experienced a profoundly sad and dejected feeling.)
- The team's performance was absolutely dismal this season. (The team's performance was extremely poor or inadequate.)
Advanced Usage
- "the dismal science": A historical and sometimes ironic nickname for the field of economics, coined by the historian Thomas Carlyle, suggesting it is concerned with gloomy topics like scarcity and difficult choices.
- He wrote an essay criticizing the predictions of the dismal science.
Variants and Related Words
- Dismally (adverb): In a dismal manner.
- The experiment failed dismally.
- Dismalness (noun): The state or quality of being dismal (less common).
Synonyms
- Gloomy: Dark or poorly lit, causing a feeling of depression.
- Bleak: Lacking in warmth, life, or kindliness; grim and desolate.
- Depressing: Causing someone to feel sad or dispirited.
- Dreary: Dull, bleak, and lifeless; depressing.
Related Phrases
- Dismal failure: A complete and utter lack of success.
- The product launch was a dismal failure.
- Dismal outlook: A very pessimistic forecast or prospect for the future.
- The economic report presented a dismal outlook for the next quarter.
Adjective
- 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