Dismal vs Abysmal - What's the difference?
dismal | abysmal |
Disappointingly inadequate.
* {{quote-news, year=2012, date=April 22, author=Sam Sheringham, work=BBC Sport
, title= Gloomy and bleak.
Depressing.
*, chapter=12
, title= (now, rare) Pertaining to, or resembling an abyss; unending; profound; fathomless; immeasurable.
* Carlyle
(figurative, colloquial) Bottomless; extremely bad.
* {{quote-news, year=2012
, date=June 9
, author=Owen Phillips
, title=Euro 2012: Netherlands 0-1 Denmark
, work=BBC Sport
As adjectives the difference between abysmal and dismal
is that abysmal is pertaining to, or resembling an abyss; unending; profound; fathomless; immeasurable while dismal is disappointingly inadequate.dismal
English
Adjective
(en adjective)Liverpool 0-1 West Brom, passage=Liverpool's efforts thereafter had an air of desperation as their dismal 2012 league form continued.}}
Mr. Pratt's Patients, passage=So, after a spell, he decided to make the best of it and shoved us into the front parlor. 'Twas a dismal sort of place, with hair wreaths, and wax fruit, and tin lambrekins, and land knows what all. It looked like a tomb and smelt pretty nigh as musty and dead-and-gone.}}
Usage notes
* Nouns to which "dismal" is often applied: failure, performance, state, record, place, result, scene, season, year, economy, future, fate, weather, news, condition, history.Synonyms
* See alsoDerived terms
* dismal scienceabysmal
English
Adjective
(en adjective)- Geology gives one the same abysmal extent of time that astronomy does of space.
citation, page= , passage=Robben curled an effort against the foot of the post from the edge of the box after being gifted the ball by an abysmal clearance from keeper Stephan Andersen.}}