abysmaladj.
/əˈbɪzml/, U.S. /əˈbɪzm(ə)l/ 1. Of, relating to, or resembling an abyss; bottomless; profound; spec.: of, resembling, or relating to Hell; hellish.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > extension in space > measurable spatial extent > vertical extent > extension downwards or depth > [adjective] > very
groundlessc888
bottomlessc1400
profound?a1425
neal1574
soundlessc1595
insoundable1602
gulfy1607
unbottomed1615
depthless1619
unsoundable1629
chin-deep1634
fathomless1638
abysming1644
unfounded1648
abysmal1656
plumbless1665
unfathomablea1676
chasmy1793
fathom-deep1835
plummetlessc1861
chasmal1871
abyssal1903
1656 T. Blount Glossographia Abysmal, deep, bottomless.
1761 J. MacGowan Arians & Socinians Monitor 24 I was..swallowed into the craving womb, of abysmal hell.
1780 Poem Late Calamities Eng. 8 Who bids in bick'ring fume before my eyes Th' Abysmal Despot, gaunt Abaddon, rise?
1865 Sat. Rev. 4 Feb. 146/1 Madame had carious teeth, abysmal eyes, and a wide wet grin.
1910 R. Brooke Let. Jan. (1968) 216 That abysmal darkness..inspired me with thousands of Hardyesque short poems.
1976 Times Lit. Suppl. 12 Nov. 1418/1 Best known in this country for his historic descent to the abysmal depths of the Atlantic Ocean.
2. figurative.
a. In hyperbolical use: of great depth; profound, extreme.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > high or intense degree > [adjective]
hardOE
heavyc1000
highOE
highlyOE
stourc1275
largec1330
intensec1400
violent1430
profoundc1450
vehementc1485
intensive1526
advanceda1533
vengeable1532
Herculean1602
well-advanced1602
deep1605
dense1732
abysmal1817
intensitive1835
holy1837
high-level1860
major1942
1817 S. T. Coleridge Biogr. Lit. 83 ‘Only fourpence,’ (O! how I felt the anti-climax, the abysmal bathos of that fourpence)!
1847 N. Amer. Rev. July 211 Hollow-cheeked want and abysmal ignorance, in a frieze jacket and corduroy smalls, would become plump satiety and Arcadian simplicity, in a doublet and hose.
1879 F. W. Farrar Life & Work St. Paul II. x. lv. 546 The government of Nero..at this moment..presented a spectacle of awful cruelty and abysmal degradation.
1898 School Rev. 6 261 The detached sentences..with their often abysmal silliness of idea.
1946 French Rev. 19 172 Another august body..discovered abysmal ignorance of American history among college students.
1996 J. Updike In Beauty of Lilies 312 In that pretty young face suddenly crumbling with age had loomed an abysmal cruelty of horizonless time and space.
b. Of an exceptionally poor standard or quality; extremely bad, appalling.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > inferiority or baseness > [adjective]
evil971
lowc1175
poor?c1225
feeblec1275
vilea1300
petty1372
unthende1377
secondary1386
petitc1390
unmeeta1393
illa1400
commonc1400
coarse1424
indigent1426
unlikelyc1450
lesser1464
gross1474
naughty1526
inferior1531
reprobate?1545
slender1577
unlikely1578
puny1579
under1580
wooden1592
sordid1596
puisne1598
provant1601
subministrant1604
inferious1607
sublunary1624
indifferent1638
undermatched1642
unworthy1646
underly1648
turncoated1650
female1652
undergraduate1655
farandinical1675
baddishc1736
ungenerous1745
understrapping1762
tinnified1794
demi-semi1805
shabby1805
dicky1819
poor white1821
tin-pot1838
deterior1848
substandard1850
crumby1859
cheesy1863
po'1866
not-quite1867
rocky1873
mouldy1876
low-grade1878
sketchy1878
midget1879
junky1880
ullaged1892
abysmal1904
bodgie1905
junk1908
crap1936
ropy1941
bodger1945
two-star1951
tripey1955
manky1958
schlocky1960
cack1978
wank1991
bowf1994
the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > high or intense degree > [adjective] > very great or extreme > specifically of something bad or reprobated
woefula1400
mortalc1425
preciousc1475
fine1559
trim1569
gay1581
unconscionable1590
pocky1601
abominable1612
fearful1634
handsome1638
plaguey1694
dreadful1700
awfy1724
murrain1728
diabolical1750
deuced1782
dire1836
sinful1863
sodding1881
blooming1882
flaming1895
ruddy1896
abysmal1904
awful1916
hellishing1927
right1958
steaming1962
schwag1993
1904 H. James Golden Bowl ii. xxviii. 345 She had..told her maid, a new woman, whom she had lately found herself thinking of as abysmal, that she didn't want her.
1933 D. Thomas Let. ?15 Oct. (1985) 25 I always said his taste was abysmal.
1965 G. Melly Owning-up vi. 59 I can still remember some of the abysmal patter which he delivered.
1984 N.Y. Times 10 July a23/1 Guatemala's abysmal human rights record.
2010 Edmonton (Alberta) Jrnl. 6 Feb. a17 Her school French is imperfect and her kid French is abysmal.
3. Oceanography. = abyssal adj. 2. Now rare.
ΚΠ
1869 Nature 9 Dec. 167/2 Abysmal life is not represented merely by microscopic organisms.
1898 Jrnl. Geol. (Chicago) 6 525 The abysmal edge of the [continental] shelf.
1911 Geol. Mag. 8 243 The typical volcanic rocks of abysmal depressions.
1978 G. Murchie Seven Myst. Life i. 29 Life in the abysmal depths of the oceans..is much more difficult to observe than at comparable heights above sea level.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2011; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1656