different between horrendous vs dismal

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin horrendus, future participle of horre? (“I dread”), +? -ous.

Pronunciation

• enPR: h?r?n'd?s, IPA^(key): /h????nd?s/
• Rhymes: -?nd?s

Adjective

horrendous (comparative more horrendous, superlative most horrendous)

1. Extremely bad; awful; terrible.

   There was horrendous carnage at the scene of the plane crash.

   My journey to work this morning was horrendous!

Synonyms

• awful, horrific, terrible, dreadful

Related terms

• horrible
• horrid
• horrific
• horrify
• horror

Translations

Trivia

One of four common words ending in -dous, which are hazardous, horrendous, stupendous, and tremendous.

References

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