dismal
Dull, gloomy and miserable.
dismal in a sentence
- It was a dismal afternoon: grey skies, cold drizzle and nothing to do indoors.
- The team's dismal score of nil to seven left the fans trudging home in silence.
Try an 11+ style question
Verbal reasoning papers often ask about a word like this.
Which word is closest in meaning to dismal?
- Agloomy
- Bcheerful
- Cbright
- Dsunny
Show the answer
A: gloomy. The other three mean the opposite of dismal.
Which word is most nearly opposite in meaning to dismal?
- Agloomy
- Bgrey
- Cdull
- Dcheerful
Show the answer
D: cheerful. The other three mean nearly the same as dismal.
Words that mean something similar
gloomy, grey, dull
Words that mean the opposite
cheerful, bright, sunny
More words about light & dark
- gleam: To shine softly with light.
- glimmer: To shine with a faint, unsteady light; or that faint light.
- glisten: To shine and sparkle, often because something is wet.
- gloomy: Dark, dull and a little sad.
- ignite: To set something on fire or make it start burning.
- illuminate: To light something up.
- indistinct: Not clear enough to see or hear properly.
- inferno: A huge, fierce fire that is out of control.
More words to explore
Sitting the 11+ in Kent, Medway or Buckinghamshire?
Plain-English guides to each test, from the councils’ own pages: Kent Test · Medway Test · Bucks Secondary Transfer Test