dismaldis‧mal /ˈdɪzməl/ ●○○ adjective 
The future looks pretty dismal right now. a dismal, grey afternoon2bad and unsuccessful: The team’s record so far is pretty dismal. Her scheme was a dismal failure.—dismally adverb
WORD ORIGINdismal
Origin:
1300-1400 Anglo-French, Medieval Latin dies mali ‘evil days’EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- dismal economic news
- a dismal, gray afternoon
- It was a grey, dismal November afternoon.
- Melinda joined her husband in Moscow, but soon found life there bleak and dismal.
- The couple lived in a dismal apartment in the poorest section of town.
- The profit margin on hardware sales for the first quarter was a dismal 29%.
- But it was a dismal moment for the pastry shop that Majed Makhoul had opened two months earlier in Qlaia.
- I understood that things could have been far more dismal than they were.
- Instead there would be the dismal apparatus of mutual suspicion familiar to every accountant.
- It looked dismal enough when I saw it, as if given right over to darkness.
- The forecast had been dismal but wrong.
- Visitors to the camps went home with dismal stories to relate...
Longman Language Activatormaking you feel sad
use this about a story, piece of music, period of time etc that makes you feel sad: sad time/day/moment/occasion etc: · The day her son left home was one of the saddest days of her life.sad news/story/song etc: · Fairuz sang a sad song that made us all feel homesick.· I don't like movies with sad endings.it is sad that: · It's very sad that she died before her children grew up.
: unhappy childhood/marriage/year etc a time when you are unhappy because you are in a difficult or unpleasant situation: · Phil was married for three unhappy years.· Looking at that photo always bring back unhappy memories.· an unhappy love affair
a depressing experience, story, piece of news etc makes you feel that there is nothing to be happy about and not much hope for the future: · The Deerhunter was a very depressing movie about Vietnam.· It's such a depressing town - it's full of ugly, disused factories.· Listening to the news can be really depressing, when all you ever hear about is violence and crime.
an upsetting experience or event makes you feel very sad and often shocked: · Seeing her lying there in a hospital bed was a very upsetting experience.· She can't talk about her son's death - she finds it too upsetting.it is upsetting to find/know/learn etc something: · It's very upsetting to arrive home and find that your house has been burgled.
a time that is miserable is one when you are extremely unhappy because you are in a very unpleasant situation: · Factory workers during the 18th century led miserable lives.· The journey home was miserable. Everyone was depressed about losing the game.
a story, event, piece of news etc that is heartbreaking makes you feel extremely sad and sorry or extremely disappointed: · It's a heartbreaking moment when a great sportsman finally decides that it's time to quit.· The decision to kill the infected animals was a heart-rending one for farmers.it is heartbreaking to see/learn etc something: · Having worked so hard to start the business, it would be heartbreaking to see it all collapse.
a dismal place, situation, or time makes you feel unhappy and not at all hopeful: · It was a grey, dismal November afternoon.· Melinda joined her husband in Moscow, but soon found life there bleak and dismal.· The profit margin on hardware sales for the first quarter was a dismal 29%.
a place, activity, or time that is dreary is not at all interesting or enjoyable and makes you feel unhappy: · This room is so dreary. How can we brighten it up?· a dreary winter's day· Cooking for one person can be a dreary business, as many elderly people find.
a place or situation that is bleak is one in which there is nothing to make you feel cheerful or hopeful about the future: · The wild landscape was bleak and bare.· He gazed around the empty, bleak little room in despair.· Many people were facing a financially bleak Christmas.· The chief executive said that the company was looking at a bleak future.the outlook/prospect/future etc is bleak : · Prospects of success looked bleak as the opposition scored the first two goals.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY Her scheme was a dismal failure.COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
1if a situation or a place is dismal, it is so bad that it makes you feel very unhappy and hopeless: Her scheme was a dismal failure. (=used to emphasize how bad a failure is)· The experiment was considered a dismal failure.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSNOUN· Jimmy Johnstone's life after football has been a catalogue of defeats and dismal failures.· This debate will no doubt continue, and clearly no project is either a complete success or a dismal failure.· It was a dismal failure. 1926-27 found him hawking a play round London offices with no potential takers.· They are especially dismal failures in this regard because in fact they support these prejudices.· It was a dismal failure, and was followed by restrictive legislation against the unions and by victimization of many union activists.
· Is this because of that dismal performance against Norwich?· But the dismal performance in Boston will make many fans think our top players are overvalued and overpaid.· In a country so used to dismal performances the prospect of a player scoring with such consummate style was rare indeed.· Coleraine boss Billy Sinclair must have shuddered as he watched his side's dismal performance.
· Over the decades, the economic summits have had a dismal record of understanding what was happening in the real world.
The future looks pretty dismal right now. a dismal, grey afternoon2bad and unsuccessful: The team’s record so far is pretty dismal. Her scheme was a dismal failure.—dismally adverb