different between dismal vs dolorous

English

Etymology

From Anglo-Norman dismal, from Old French (li) dis mals ("(the) bad days"), from Medieval Latin di?s (“day”) m?l? (“bad”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?d?zm?l/
• Rhymes: -?zm?l

Adjective

dismal (comparative more dismal, superlative most dismal)

1. Disastrous, calamitous
2. Disappointingly inadequate.
3. Causing despair; gloomy and bleak.

4. Depressing, dreary, cheerless.

Usage notes

• Nouns to which "dismal" is often applied: failure, performance, state, record, place, result, scene, season, year, economy, future, fate, weather, news, condition, history.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:cheerless

Derived terms

• dismal science

Translations

Anagrams

• almids

English

Alternative forms

• dolourous (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English dolorous, from Old French dolerous (modern French douloureux), from Late Latin dol?r?sus (“painful”), from Latin dolor. Doublet of dolorose.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?d?l???s/, /?do?l???s/

Adjective

dolorous (comparative more dolorous, superlative most dolorous)

1. Solemnly or ponderously sad.
   • 1596, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, Book 5, Canto 4:

     Through dolorous despaire, which she conceyved,

     Into the Sea her selfe did headlong throw,

     Thinking to have her griefe by death bereaved.

   • 1645, John Milton, "On the Morning of Christ's Nativity", stanza 14:

     . . . Hell itself will pass away,

     And leave her dolorous mansions to the peering day.

   • 2001 June 24, Stefan Kanfer, "Author, Teacher, Witness," Time:

     As World War II came to a close, the gaunt and dolorous child was liberated at yet another death camp, Buchenwald.

Translations