Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Date: 1300-1400
Language: Anglo-French
Origin: Medieval Latin dies mali 'evil days'

dismal

 adjective
     
dis‧mal
1 if a situation or a place is dismal, it is so bad that it makes you feel very unhappy and hopeless:
The future looks pretty dismal right now.
a dismal, grey afternoon
2 bad and unsuccessful:
The team's record so far is pretty dismal.
Her scheme was a dismal failure.
—dismally adverb
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

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