Word of the Day - October 20, 2015

dismal  /ˈdɪzm(ə)l/
adjective

Meaning:

1. causing a mood of gloom or depression.

"The dismal weather made the late afternoon seem like evening."

Synonyms:
dingy, dim, dark, gloomy, sombre, dreary, drab, dull, desolate, bleak, cheerless, comfortless, depressing, grim, funereal, inhospitable, uninviting, unwelcoming

antonyms: bright, cheerful


2. (of a person or their mood) gloomy.

"Her dismal mood was not dispelled by finding the house empty."

Synonyms: 
gloomy, glum, mournful, melancholy, morose, doleful, woeful, woebegone, forlorn, abject, dejected, depressed, dispirited, downcast, crestfallen, despondent, disconsolate, miserable, sad, unhappy, sorrowful, sorrowing, desolate, wretched, lugubrious

antonyms:cheerful

3. (informal) pitifully or disgracefully bad.

"He shuddered as he watched his team's dismal performance."

Synonyms:
bad, poor, dreadful, awful, terrible, pitiful, disgraceful, lamentable, deplorable

antonyms: excellent

Antonyms:
bright, brilliant, clear, crystalline, dazzling, gleaming, glowing, illumined, light, lucid, luminous, radiant, shining, transparent, white

Origin

late Middle English: from earlier dismal (noun), denoting the two days in each month which in medieval times were believed to be unlucky, from Anglo-Norman French dis mal, from medieval Latin dies mali ‘evil days’.