2 meanings
(click/touch triangles for details)
1 —as in:
a dismal expression
Definition
depressing or gloomy- It was a dark and dismal night.
dismal = depressing or gloomy
Other Uses (with this meaning)
- It is a dismal day.
- a dismal earnings outlook for the industry
- Advancing more and more into the shadow of this mournful place, its dark depressing influence stole upon their spirits, and filled them with a dismal gloom.Charles Dickens -- The Old Curiosity Shop
- My dismal scene I needs must act alone.Shakespeare -- Romeo and Juliet
- The dismal truth was filtering through to everybody.William Golding -- Lord of the Flies
- Cautiously he reaches his hand to his behind and looks at me dismally.Erich Maria Remarque -- All Quiet on the Western Front
- Devon is sometimes considered the most beautiful school in New England, and even on this dismal afternoon its power was asserted.John Knowles -- A Separate Peace
- The valley of ashes is bounded on one side by a small foul river, and, when the drawbridge is up to let barges through, the passengers on waiting trains can stare at the dismal scene for as long as half an hour.F. Scott Fitzgerald -- The Great Gatsby
- At this dismal time we were evidently all possessed by the idea that we were followed.Charles Dickens -- Great Expectations
dismal = depressing or gloomy
dismal = depressing
dismally = in a depressed manner
dismal = gloomy (wet and overcast)
dismal = depressing
dismal = depressing or gloomy
2 —as in:
a dismal performance
Definition
of terrible quality- It was a dismal play with terrible acting.
dismal = of terrible quality
Other Uses (with this meaning)
- a dismal performance by the Steelers
- In the dismal weather, it would have been difficult with both hands, but with just the one, it was impossible.Markus Zusak -- The Book Thief
dismal = of terrible quality
dismal = terrible (wet and overcast)