adj. 1 causing or showing gloom; miserable. 2 dreary or sombre (dismal brown walls). 3 colloq. feeble or inept (a dismal performance). the dismals colloq. melancholy. the dismal science joc. economics. dismally adv. dismalness n.
[ orig. noun = unlucky days: ME f. AF dis mal f. med.L dies mali two days in each month held to be unpropitious ]