EN

Synonyms for dismal

  • adjective

Most common

gloomy dreary depressing cheerless woeful dull poor ruinous

Synonyms by meaning

Adjective

1. Gloomy — causing despair; gloomy and bleak

gloomy, dreary, depressing, cheerless, grim, dark, bleak, sorry, dingy, joyless, drab, dire, desolate, grey UK, gray US, solitary, sunless, drear, comfortless, drearisome

2. Woeful — depressing, dreary, cheerless

woeful, dull, sad, miserable, doleful, unhappy, blue, lugubrious, wretched, sorrowful, disconsolate, somber US, sombre UK, melancholy, mournful, sullen, glum, forlorn, morose, rueful, despondent, unfortunate, tragic

3. Poor — disappointingly inadequate

poor, lousy, paltry, meager US CA, meagre UK

4. Ruinous — disastrous, calamitous

ruinous, catastrophic, cataclysmic, calamitous

Other

negative, fourth-rate, fifth-rate, sixth-rate, blank

Antonyms

bright, grouse, idyllic

All antonyms of dismal →

Definitions

  1. adj. 1

    Disastrous, calamitous.

  2. adj. 2

    Disappointingly inadequate.

    He received a dismal compensation.

  3. adj. 3

    Causing despair; gloomy and bleak.

    The storm made for a dismal weekend

  4. adj. 4

    Depressing, dreary, cheerless.

    She was lost in dismal thoughts of despair

Related words

Word family
dismally dismalness
Phrases
dismal science

Choose the right word

Dismal, Dark, Somber or Gloomy?

Figuratively, dark is emblematic of sadness, agreeing with somber, dismal, gloomy, also of moral evil; as, a dark deed.

J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)

Example sentences

  • depressing Recently, you've been depressing to hang out with.
  • bleak To some people, Algeria's future is looking bleak.
  • dreary I've got to go to another dreary meeting tomorrow.
  • dingy Lacking proper lighting, Tammy's room was depressingly dingy.
  • lugubrious I'd prefer to be called lugubrious rather than a sad sack.
  • doleful My dog died yesterday, so I'm quite doleful.

Popularity over time

Word1850 → 2019Trend
dismalrising
depressingsteady
bleakrising
drearyrising
dingyrising
lugubrioussteady

Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.

By length

3 letters
sad1
4 letters
blue1, poor1, dark1, grey1, gray1, dull1, grim1, dire1, drab1, glum1
5 letters
sorry2, blank1, bleak1, lousy2, dingy2, drear
6 letters
tragic2, gloomy2, dreary2, somber2, meager2, paltry2, meagre, sombre, woeful2, sullen2, morose2, rueful2
7 letters
unhappy3, forlorn2, ruinous3, joyless, sunless, doleful2
8 letters
negative3, solitary4, wretched2, desolate3, mournful2
9 letters
miserable4, sorrowful3, cheerless
10 letters
depressing3, melancholy4, despondent3, calamitous4, lugubrious4, drearisome
11 letters
unfortunate4, cataclysmic4, comfortless
12 letters
catastrophic4, disconsolate

The small number after each word is its number of syllables (sorry2 = 2 syllables).

In other languages

Français
lamentable