1
: showing or causing unhappiness or sad feelings : not warm, cheerful, etc.
a dark, dismal room
dismal [=gloomy, dreary] weather
The barren landscape looks dismal [=bleak, desolate] in winter.
2
: very bad or poor
The show was a dismal failure.
a dismal performance
The team's record is dismal.
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“Dismal.” Merriam-Webster.com Simple Definition, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/simple/dismal. Accessed 25 Jun. 2026.
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