dismal

• adj. 凄凉的，忧郁的；阴沉的，沉闷的
• n. 低落的情绪

来自拉丁语dies mali, 即malicious day. 后用做形容词，凄凉的，阴沉的。

dismal

dismal: [13] Etymologically, dismal means ‘bad day’. It comes, via Anglo-Norman dis mal, from Latin diēs malī, literally ‘evil days’, a term used to denote the two days in each month which according to ancient superstition were supposed to be unlucky (these days, of set date, were said originally to have been computed by Egyptian astrologers, and were hence also called Egyptian days). The term dismal thus acquired connotations of ‘gloom’ and ‘calamity’. Its earliest adjectival use, somewhat tautologically, was in the phrase dismal day, but in the late 16th century it broadened out considerably in application.

dismal (adj.)

c. 1400, from Anglo-French dismal (mid-13c.), from Old French (li) dis mals "(the) bad days," from Medieval Latin dies mali "evil or unlucky days" (also called dies Ægyptiaci), from Latin dies "days" (see diurnal) + mali, plural of malus "bad" (see mal-).

Through the Middle Ages, calendars marked two days of each month as unlucky, supposedly based on the ancient calculations of Egyptian astrologers (Jan. 1, 25; Feb. 4, 26; March 1, 28; April 10, 20; May 3, 25; June 10, 16; July 13, 22; Aug. 1, 30; Sept. 3, 21; Oct. 3, 22; Nov. 5, 28; Dec. 7, 22). Modern sense of "gloomy, dreary" first recorded in English 1590s, in reference to sounds. Related: Dismally.

1. My prospects of returning to a suitable job are dismal.

我重新找到一个合适的工作岗位的希望很渺茫。

来自柯林斯例句

2. You can't occupy yourself with dismal thoughts all the time.

不要终日陷在阴郁的思绪中。

来自柯林斯例句

3. It was a dismal failure.

这是个让人沮丧的失败。

来自柯林斯例句

4. The singer gave a dismal performance of some old songs.

那歌手唱了几首老歌，唱得不怎么样。

来自《权威词典》

5. That is a rather dismal melody.

那是一支相当忧郁的歌曲.

来自《简明英汉词典》