dismaying

adjective

dis·​may·​ing dis-ˈmā-iŋ 

diz-

: causing feelings of alarmed concern or agitation

heard some dismaying news

… at a time when Hollywood was quietly panicking over dismaying financial statistics.

—Robert F. Moss

It is somewhat dismaying to see how far Mr. Jennings often goes in his zeal …

—Ronald Sanders

dismayingly

dis-ˈmā-iŋ-lē 

diz-

adverb

a dismayingly long list of problems

This is a place where achieving any sort of closure on important national traumas … has proved dismayingly elusive.

—Max Rodenbeck

Examples of dismaying in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

This impersonality is all the more dismaying because the dramatic crux of the film is exceptionally effective. —Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 1 Feb. 2024

That was tested on the first day of field trials, when a bad capacitor—easily fixed—in one home’s HVAC triggered a surge of current that shut the entire system down with a loud and dismaying relay clunk. —IEEE Spectrum, 21 Nov. 2019

Indeed, the legendary King’s audible and visible decline in the final years of his touring career was a dismaying experience that tarnished his stellar reputation. —George Varga, San Diego Union-Tribune, 31 Aug. 2023

The record of American failure in the Middle East over the last two decades is long and dismaying. —Steven A. Cook, Foreign Affairs, 13 Oct. 2020

Alan Williams Atlanta, Ga. A Troubling Trend William Finnegan’s Comment about child labor paints a dismaying picture (June 12th). —The New Yorker, 26 June 2023

That such paralyzing division has gridlocked the Senate is a dismaying turnabout for those who have long watched Oregon politics. —Mike Baker, New York Times, 4 June 2023

To an almost dismaying degree, many readers saw in Jude’s abject powerlessness a reflection of their own lives. —The New Yorker, 10 Jan. 2022

There was a dismaying incident when a barefoot African pursued the royal car while waving what appeared to be a piece of paper. —Moira Hodgson, WSJ, 25 Mar. 2021

Word History

First Known Use

1582, in the meaning defined above