Synonyms of dismaying

dismaying 1 of 2

adjective

as in disconcerting

Related Words

• disconcerting
• disheartening
• discouraging
• troubling
• daunting
• demoralizing
• dispiriting
• disturbing
• unsettling
• troublesome
• worrisome
• disquieting
• discomfiting
• upsetting
• frightening
• distressing
• perturbing
• nagging
• discomforting
• scary
• troublous
• chilling
• alarming
• shocking
• terrifying
• horrifying
• nasty
• discomposing
• terrible
• formidable
• horrible
• ghastly
• dreadful
• frightful
• fearful
• horrendous
• dire
• persecutory
• dread
• fearsome
• forbidding
• direful
• persecutive
• harassing
• intimidating
• hair-raising

Dissimilar Words

• reassuring
• settling
• soothing
• calming
• comforting
• narcotic
• dreamy
• relaxing
• sedative
• inviting
• quieting
• tranquilizing
• consoling
• lulling
• pacifying

dismaying

2 of 2

verb

present participle of dismay

1

as in discouraging

to lessen the courage or confidence of

the imposing climb up the mountain dismayed us even before we got started

Synonyms & Similar Words

• discouraging
• frustrating
• disheartening
• daunting
• unnerving
• dispiriting
• frightening
• intimidating
• horrifying
• troubling
• demoralizing
• worrying
• chilling
• scaring
• distressing
• afflicting
• saddening
• bothering
• throwing cold water on
• unmanning
• depressing
• bullying
• weighing
• trying
• debilitating
• browbeating
• vexing
• undermining
• deadening
• weakening
• cowing
• irking
• dampening
• damping
• enfeebling

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• encouraging
• cheering
• heartening
• invigorating
• reinforcing
• emboldening
• enforcing
• enlivening
• exciting
• reassuring
• strengthening
• animating
• nerving
• assuring
• gladdening
• steeling
• stirring
• inspiring
• stimulating
• buoying (up)
• provoking
• fortifying
• energizing
• galvanizing
• lifting
• quickening
• rallying
• boosting

2

as in alarming

to trouble the mind of; to make uneasy

parents who became increasingly dismayed by their son's foundering marriage

Synonyms & Similar Words

• alarming
• disturbing
• worrying
• concerning
• distracting
• bothering
• unsettling
• distressing
• upsetting
• angering
• disquieting
• haunting
• annoying
• agitating
• discomforting
• plaguing
• perturbing
• irritating
• confusing
• embarrassing
• undoing
• exasperating
• ailing
• unhinging
• derailing
• freaking (out)
• rattling
• exercising
• aggravating
• discouraging
• fussing
• vexing
• flurrying
• discomposing
• bugging
• frazzling
• disconcerting
• hagriding
• weirding out
• galling
• distempering
• irking
• harassing
• disheartening
• discomfiting
• jarring
• dispiriting
• confounding
• mortifying
• nettling
• pestering
• unnerving
• grating
• harrying
• chafing
• riling
• bedeviling
• fretting
• daunting
• piquing
• peeving
• demoralizing
• putting off
• putting out
• chivying
• flustering
• getting
• discountenancing
• shaking up
• nonplussing
• abashing
• fazing

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• soothing
• calming
• composing
• quieting
• settling
• alleviating
• tranquilizing
• allaying
• appeasing
• assuaging
• placating
• pacifying
• conciliating
• mollifying
• propitiating

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of dismaying

Adjective

But there’s another side to this story, equally dismaying, which is the abandonment of dissidents as a public cause in the West. — Bret Stephens, Mercury News, 12 Feb. 2026

With little to no foil for this dismaying existence, however, Half His Age often succumbs to shock value in lieu of pushing beyond that which offends. — Fran Hoepfner, Vulture, 22 Jan. 2026

Verb

Thinking of my mother marooned in her house was dismaying to me. — Nicholas Dawidoff, New Yorker, 10 May 2026

That the Illini couldn’t complete their comeback attempt despite cutting it to four in the final minutes was dismaying. — Colleen Kane, Chicago Tribune, 5 Apr. 2026