Dismal \Dis"mal\, a. [Formerly a noun; e. g., "I trow it was in
   the dismalle." Chaucer. Of uncertain origin; but perh. (as
   suggested by Skeat) from OF. disme, F. d[^i]me, tithe, the
   phrase dismal day properly meaning, the day when tithes must
   be paid. See {Dime}.]
   1. Fatal; ill-omened; unlucky. [Obs.]
      
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            An ugly fiend more foul than dismal day. --Spenser.
      
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   2. Gloomy to the eye or ear; sorrowful and depressing to the
      feelings; foreboding; cheerless; dull; dreary; as, a
      dismal outlook; dismal stories; a dismal place.
      
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            Full well the busy whisper, circling round,
            Convey'd the dismal tidings when he frowned.
                                                  --Goldsmith.
      
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            A dismal description of an English November.
                                                  --Southey.

   Syn: Dreary; lonesome; gloomy; dark; ominous; ill-boding;
        fatal; doleful; lugubrious; funereal; dolorous;
        calamitous; sorrowful; sad; joyless; melancholy;
        unfortunate; unhappy.
        
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