word-vault/dist/data/cards/di/dismal.json

A lightweight JavaScript package for English word definitions and collections.

{
    "term": "dismal",
    "partOfSpeech": "adjective",
    "definitions": [
        {
            "senseNumber": 1,
            "definition": "causing or showing the feeling of being sad",
            "cefr": "c2",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "dismal conditions/surroundings/weather"
                },
                {
                    "text": "Christmas will be dismal without the children."
                },
                {
                    "text": "He watched the dismal faces of the players as they trudged back to the dressing room."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The place mirrored his own dismal mood."
                }
            ],
            "synonyms": "gloomy, miserable",
            "topics": ["Weather"],
            "collocations": {
                "verbs": ["be", "look", "become"],
                "adverb": ["extremely", "fairly", "very"]
            }
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 2,
            "definition": "not successful; of very low quality",
            "labels": "(informal)",
            "cefr": "c2",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "The singer gave a dismal performance of some old songs."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Their recent attempt to increase sales has been a **dismal failure**."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Last year's results were fairly dismal."
                }
            ],
            "topics": ["Difficulty and failure"],
            "collocations": {
                "verbs": ["be", "look", "become"],
                "adverb": ["extremely", "fairly", "very"]
            }
        }
    ],
    "pronunciations": {
        "uk": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/ˈdɪzməl/",
                "audio": "di/dismal/dismal__gb_1.mp3"
            }
        ],
        "us": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/ˈdɪzməl/",
                "audio": "di/dismal/dismal__us_1.mp3"
            }
        ]
    },
    "wordOrigin": "late Middle English: from earlier dismal (noun), denoting the two days in each month which in medieval times were believed to be unlucky, from Anglo-Norman French dis mal, from medieval Latin dies mali ‘evil days’."
}