Dismay

Definition: Dismay

Dismay

Noun

1. The feeling of despair in the face of obstacles.

2. Fear resulting from the awareness of danger.

Verb

1. Lower someone's spirits; make downhearted; "These news depressed her"; "The bad state of her child's health demoralizes her".

2. Fill with apprehension or alarm; cause to be unpleasantly surprised; "I was horrified at the thought of being late for my interview".

Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
 

Date "dismay" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1010. (references)

Synonyms: Dismay

Fear

Inspire fear, excite fear, inspire awe, excite awe; raise aprehensions; be in a daze, bulldoze; faze, feeze; give an alarm, raise an alarm, sound an alarm; alarm, startle, scare, cry " wolf," disquiet, dismay; fright, frighten, terrify; astound; fright from one's propriety; fright out of one's senses, fright out of one's wits, fright out of one's seven senses; awe; strike all of a heap, strike an awe into, strike terror; harrow up the soul, appall, unman, petrify, horrify; pile on the agony.

Fright; affright, affrightment; boof alarm, dread, awe, terror, horror, dismay, consternation, panic, scare, stampede.

Crosswords: Dismay

Though she denies her pain and her dismay (Pass You By; performing artist: Boyz II Men)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Books

• Dismay (reference)

• Heart, O Heart: 21 Stories That Warm, Dismay and Chill the Heart (reference)

• Let Nothing You Dismay (reference)

• Love, Honor, and Dismay (reference)

• The Reform Decade in China: From Hope to Dismay (reference)

  (more book examples)

Music

• Dismay (reference)

• Dreams of Death & Dismay (reference)

  (more classical music examples; more popular music examples)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Emma was rather in dismay when only half a minute afterwards he began to speak of other things, and in a voice of the greatest alacrity and enjoyment

His eyes were fixed on that brass knob, then became set and wild and little by little filled with dismay.

He wondered how he would pass the first night in the novitiate and with what dismay he would wake the first morning in the dormitory

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Economic History

Haiti

Opposition to the GOH's privatization plan within the governing Lavalas coalition still exists, with some popular organizations and public employees claiming the GOH is "putting the country up for sale." Employees' unions at the enterprises have also expressed dismay at the probable workforce reductions that would accompany privatization. (references)

Human Rights

Mexico

In a strongly worded press conference, the Special Rapporteur, accompanied by Mariclaire Acosta, expressed dismay about the lack of public confidence in the justice system, and called for increased resources for state-level judiciaries and improved professionalism among judges and lawyers. (references)

Minorities

Russia

Moscow Mayor Yuriy Luzhkov, Human Rights Ombudsman Oleg Mironov, and others publicly expressed their disapproval of and dismay at the attacks and the mayor acknowledged manifestations of racism and nationalism to be a "serious" problem. (references)

Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Expressions using "dismay": exclamation of dismay ♦ fill smb. with dismay ♦ to my dismay. Additional references.

Albanian

druajtje (diffidence, disarray, nervousness, shyness), drojë (dither, phobia, shyness), tremb (frighten, give a start, intimidate, scare, shoo, startle), trazoj (agitate, break up, commingle, dash, distemper, disturb, fidget, flitter, flurry, fluster, flutter, harass, Harry, incommode, intermix, jumble, knead, perturb, poke, pother, ruffle, shuffle, stir, turn, vex), llahtaris (scare, terrify), llahtarë (horror, terror), llahtar (horror, terror), lemeris (horrify, terrify), lebetit (terrify), frikësoj (affright, appal, appall, bluff, browbeat, cow, fright, frighten, funk, intimidate, scare), frikë (affright, apprehension, cowardice, doubt, dread, fear, fright, habdabs, jim-jams, phobia, scare, shake), ankth (anguish, anxiety, Ardor, ardour, distress, fuss, incubus, inquietude, jitters, nervosity, night-hag, nightmare, obsession, overanxiety, trepidation, uneasiness, unrest). (various references)

Arabic 

‏فزع (appal, appall, be scared, dread, panic, scare, skittish), ‏فعم (heap up, impact, overfill), ‏قنط (despair, despond, droop, irritation), ‏حيرة (bewilderment, confusion, discomfiture, disconcertion, distraction, embarrassment, hesitance, hesitancy, indecision, irresolution, maze, mystification, nonplus, perplexedly, perplexity, puzzle, puzzlement, tangle), ‏إفزاع, ‏أرعب (alarm, appal, appall, daunt, fright, frighten, horrify, intimidate, panic, stagger, terrorize), ‏رعب (awe, consternation, fright, frightfulness, horror, panic, scare, terror, tizzy, trance). (various references)

Bulgarian 

страх (alarm, apprehension, dread, fear, fright, funk, horror, terror), уплашвам (intimidate, rattle, scare), смайвам (amaze, baffle, bedazzle, dazzle, dumbfound, flabbergast, kill, knock, knock out, rock, stagger, stun), разтревожвам, тревога (agitation, alarm, alert, anxiety, disquiet, disturbance, flurry, fluster, inquietude, perturbation, trepidation, trouble, uneasiness, unrest, worriment, worry), поразявам (amaze, astound, attaint, defeat, destroy, flabbergast, impress, overwhelm, plague, smite, stare, strike down, wow). (various references)

Czech

zdìsit (horrify), zdìšení (consternation, fright, horror, panic, terror), vydìsit (frighten away, scare, terrify), ohromit (amaze, astound, bewilder, confound, dumbfound, flabbergast, strike dumb, stun, stupefy, transfix), ohromení (amazement, consternation, staggerer), konsternovat (appal), konsternace (consternation). (various references)

Dutch

ontzetten (alarm, appal, appall, discharge, dismiss, fire, puzzle, sack), ontstellen (alarm, appal, appall, puzzle), onthutsen (alarm, appal, appall, puzzle). (various references)

Esperanto

konsterni (appall, puzzle). (various references)

Farsi 

وحشت زدگی (Startle), ترسانیدن , ترس (Awful, Dread, Fray, Horror, Misgiving), جبن (Cowardice, Pusillanimity, Timidity), بی میلی (Disaffection, Distaste, Grudge, Lassitude, Reluctance), بی جرات کردن (Daunt). (various references)

Finnish

ällistyttää (alarm, amaze, appal, dumbfound, puzzle, stun). (various references)

French

consterner. (various references)

German

bestürzung (confusion, consternation, panic, perplexity). (various references)

Greek 

κατατρομάζω (overawe), φόβοσ (affright, apprehension, consternation, dread, fear, fearfulness, fright, funk, misgiving, panic, scare, timorousness), ανησυχία (anxiety, apprehension, concern, concernment, disquiet, disquietude, inquietude, nervousness, restlessness, trouble, uneasiness, unrest, worriment, worry), τρόμοσ (consternation, dread, funk, quake, terror, tremble, trembling, tremor, trepidation), τρόμος (consternation, fright, terror), τρομάζω (alarm, appal, cow, daunt, frighten, funk, horrify, intimidate, petrify, scare, startle, terrify), δειλία (cowardice, fearfulness, pusillanimity, sheepishness, shyness, timidity, timidness, timorousness, white feather). (various references)

Hebrew 

ליאש (cause despair), ל�"פחי�" (browbeat, bully, cow, daunt, frighten, put the wind up, scare, terrify), ל�"כ�"ך (depress, oppress), לרפות י�"ים (discourage, dishearten), ת�"�"מ�" (astonishment, consternation, shock, stupefaction), פח�" (awe, consternation, dread, fear, fright, terror), חתת (terror), �"כ�"וך (chagrin, dejection, depression, gloom, gloominess, low spirits, moodiness, spleen), ב�"ל�" (alarm, fright, panic, rush, scare, trepidation). (various references)

Hungarian

rémület (bewilderment, dread, fright, funk, horror, scare, terror), nagyfokú aggodalom. (various references)

Indonesian

kekagetan (state of being startled), kegemparan (consternation, tumult). (various references)

Italian

costernazione. (various references)

Japanese Kanji 

恐怖 (be afraid, dread, terror). (various references)

Japanese Katakana 

しゅうしょうろうばい (consternation, discomfiture, fall into a panic, fluster oneself), きょうふ (be afraid, dread, godfather, terror). (various references)

Manx

faasid chree (faint-heartedness), cur contaartys er. (various references)

Norwegian

forferdelse (horror), forferde (horrify). (various references)

Pig Latin

ismayday.(various references)

Portuguese

desânimo (chill, damp, dejection, depression, despond, despondency, discouragement, megrims, prostration, the mopes). (various references)

Romanian

descuraja (beat down, bring low, cast down, chill, damp, dash, daunt, deject, depress, deter, discourage, dishearten, dispirit, face down, flatten, mope, scare, unnerve), spaimã (affright, agony, bugaboo, dread, fear, fright, funk, horror, scare, scourge, startle, terror), mâhnire (affliction, desolation, despondency, distress, grief, sadness, sorrow, trouble), groazã (affright, blue funk, dread, fearfulness, fright, horror, nightmare, terror, ton), consterna (consternate, upset), buimãcealã (alarm, confusion, consternation, dizziness, stupefaction), înspãimânta (frighten, gorgonize, horrify, scare, terrify), îngrozi (appal, awe, frighten, horrify, shudder, terrify). (various references)

Russian 

страх (Angst, awe, dread, fear, fright, funk, intimidation, phobia, scariness, terror), смятение (alarm, commotion, dither, hurly-burly, perturbation, tumult, turmoil), тревожить (disturb, harass, perturb, press upon, roust, trouble), пугать (affright, alarm, appal, frighten, give the chills, intimidate, scare, scares, scaring), испуг (affright, blue fear, blue funk, fright, habdabs). (various references)

Scottish

amhluadh (confusion). (various references)

Serbo-Croatian

zaprepastiti (appal, appall, astonish, horrify, shock, stagger), zaprepašćenje (astonishment), poraziti (defeat, wipe the floor with), poraženost. (various references)

Spanish

espantar (appal, appall, deter, discourage, frighten, frighten off, horrify, scare, scare away, scare off, shoo, terrify). (various references)

Swedish

förfäran (horror, terror), bestörtning (alarm, amazement, consternation, perplexity, trepidation, upset). (various references)

Turkish

dehşete düşürmek (appal, appall, curdle one's blood, frighten, funk, horrify, shock, terrify, terrorize), dehşet (alarm, consternation, dread, fear, fright, frightfulness, funk, horror, terror, trepidation), umutsuzluk (bleakness, despair, desperation, despond, despondancy, hopelessness, self-despair, Slough), umutsuzluğa düşürmek, korkutmak (administer a shock, affright, alarm, appal, appall, awe, bulldoze, cow, daunt, fright, frighten, funk, horrify, intimidate, overawe, scare, startle, terrorize, threaten), korku (affright, alarm, apprehension, awe, dread, fear, fright, funk, gothic, horror, misgiving, phobia, scare, trepidation), bunalım (blues, crisis, depression, down, megrims, melancholy, Moody, shock, the megrims). (various references)

Ukrainian

розгубленість (perplex, perplexity), збентеження (abashment, agitation, amazement, bewilderment, blunder, confusion, distraction, embarrassment, nonplus, puzzlement, tumult), жахати (consternate, terrify), бентежити (abash, affront, bewilder, confound, confuse, damp, dank, daunt, disarray, discomfit, disconcert, discourage, disorder, embarrass, embrangle, flummox, muddle, overset, perplex, perturb, puddle, puzzle, upturn). (various references)

Vietnamese 

sự mất tinh thần, sự mất hết can đảm (discouragement, disheartenment). (various references)

confudisset, confudisti, confudistis, confudit, confundam, confundamur, confundamus, confundantur, confundar, confundaris, confundas, confundat, confundatur, confunde, confundebat, confundemini, confundens, confundentur, confundere, confunderis, confundet, confundetur, confundimini, confundit, confunditis, confunditur, confundor, confusa, confusi, confusum, confusus, consternabatur, consternata, consternatae, consternatique, consternatus, contritio, contritione, contritionem, contritiones, contritionis, conturba, conturbabant, conturbabar, conturbabimini, conturbabis, conturbabit, conturbabuntur, conturbamini, conturbant, conturbaret, conturbaris, conturbas, conturbasti, conturbat, conturbata, conturbatae, conturbati, conturbatio, conturbatione, conturbationem, conturbatum, conturbatumque, conturbatur, conturbatus, conturbaverunt, conturbavit, conturbemini, conturbent, conturbentur, conturbet, conturbo, perculsi. (various references)

Derivations

Words beginning with "dismay": dismayed, dismaying, dismayingly, dismays. (additional references)

Words containing "dismay": undismayed. (additional references)

Misspellings

"Dismay" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: damsey, dessay, dimey, dislay, dismac, Dismas, disny, disomy, disway, Diuma, dozmary, Dumay, dusmay, Eisma, Sismey, Udizma. (additional references)

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams

-1 letter: amids, daisy, maids, mysid, sayid.

-2 letters: aids, aims, amid, amis, dais, dams, days, dims, mads, maid, mays, mids, sadi, said, sima, yams, yids.

-3 letters: ads, aid, aim, ais, ami, ays, dam, day, dim, dis, ids, ism, mad, mas, may, mid, mis, sad, say, sim, yam, yid.

-4 letters: ad, ai, am, as, ay, id, is.

+1 letter: daimyos, dismays, middays, midways, myriads.

+2 letters: amyloids, dandyism, daytimes, dismally, dismayed, dynamics, dynamism, dynamist, midyears, misandry, pyramids, sympodia, toadyism.

+3 letters: adynamias, cyanamids, dandyisms, dismaying, dynamisms, dynamists, dynamites, lampyrids, misplayed, mydriases, mydriasis, myriapods, olympiads, sympodial, toadyisms.

+4 letters: amplidynes, amygdalins, bipyramids, cyanamides, dairymaids, didynamies, disharmony, dithyrambs, doomsaying, dynamistic, dynamiters, hybridomas, misassayed, mydriatics, nymphalids, polyamides, undismayed.

+5 letters: acrylamides, amygdaloids, amyloidoses, amyloidosis, daunomycins, disarmingly, disassembly, dismayingly, doomsayings, dysrhythmia, hypermedias, myocarditis, sedimentary, semiaridity, sigmoidally, sympathised, sympathized, syndicalism.