different between dismal vs dreich

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

• dree, dreigh

Etymology

Borrowed from Scots dreich.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [d?i?x]

Adjective

dreich (comparative more dreich, superlative most dreich)

1. (Northern England, Scotland, Northern Ireland) Bleak, miserable, dismal, cheerless, dreary.

Related terms

• dree

Anagrams

• chider, herdic, riched

Irish

Noun

dreich f sg

1. dative singular of dreach (“front”)

Mutation

Further reading

• "dreich" in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, An Gúm, 1977, by Niall Ó Dónaill.

Scots

Etymology

From Old English *dr?oh < Proto-Germanic *dreuga- (compare Proto-Germanic *dreugaz). Possibly influenced by Brythonic, e.g. Welsh drycin (“bad weather”) < drwg (“bad”) +? hin (“weather”).

Distantly cognate with English drudge, dree, and German trügen.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dri?x/, /dri?ç/

Adjective

dreich (comparative mair dreich, superlative maist dreich)

1. persistent, continuous, relentless
2. slow, tardy
3. dismal, dowie, dreary, bleak
   • 2000, Matthew Fitt, But n Ben A-Go-Go, Luath 2000, p.132:

     The dreich inhuman blue on Nadia's lang-wheesht thocht-screen fizzed intae life.

4. tedious, wearisome, drawn-out
5. reluctant, tight-fisted, driving a hard bargain

Derived terms

• dreichly
• deid dreich
• dreich in the draw