How to Use dismal in a Sentence

dismal

adjective
  • The team's record is dismal.
  • The show was a dismal failure.
  • In the first half, though, Smart shot a dismal 2 for 11 from the field.
    — New York Times, 20 May 2022
  • The win against the Devils was a strong end to a dismal first half.
    — Peter Baugh, The Athletic, 9 Jan. 2025
  • Green Bay’s defense was dismal — to say the least — in the first half.
    — Rob Reischel, Forbes, 29 Sep. 2024
  • On my last day in town, King takes me for a drive through the east end’s dismal sprawl.
    — Paul Solotaroff, Rolling Stone, 1 July 2023
  • At this time last year, the market approached the end of a dismal 2022.
    — Max Zahn, ABC News, 27 Dec. 2023
  • May might have been joking, but such is the extent of the A’s dismal start.
    — Matt Kawahara, San Francisco Chronicle, 30 Apr. 2023
  • Over the last 20 years, stock pickers have had a dismal record.
    — Jeff Sommer, New York Times, 16 Feb. 2024
  • A year ago, the mood was dismal even after the Tribe had made the 2020 playoffs.
    — Terry Pluto, cleveland, 10 Oct. 2021
  • Eugene came in at rank 74 and Salem came in at a dismal 98th.
    — oregonlive, 4 Sep. 2023
  • In the dismal science, this is what counts as good news.
    — Christopher Decker, The Conversation, 15 May 2024
  • And the zero there isn’t the only dismal data on the Cards’ chart.
    — Brett Dawson, The Courier-Journal, 29 Nov. 2022
  • Our reading and math scores are dismal, in the bottom 40% of the country, to say nothing of the rest of the world.
    — Anchorage Daily News, 17 Mar. 2022
  • The Packers closed the season 1-5-1 in a dismal slide that cost them a playoff spot.
    — Journal Sentinel, 2 Jan. 2024
  • The impact of the new law on the state’s future ranking is dismal in Allen’s view.
    — Brandon Drenon, The Indianapolis Star, 1 July 2022
  • Add Jones to the list in coming from a dismal Chicago team.
    — Dave Hyde, Sun Sentinel, 3 Mar. 2025
  • For the rest of the series, Mitchell would shoot a dismal 32% on anything inside the arc; even just 39% on layups.
    — Andy Larsen, The Salt Lake Tribune, 20 Oct. 2021
  • Huerta was the bright spot in a dismal 0-9 season for the Mustangs.
    — David Hinojosa, San Antonio Express-News, 16 Sep. 2021
  • To put it more lightly: The last seven days have been dismal.
    — Declan Harty, Fortune, 12 May 2022
  • All in all, things are off to a promisingly dismal start.
    — Katherine A. Powers, Washington Post, 10 Aug. 2023
  • Turnout so far has been dismal, but that could all change Tuesday.
    — Justin Raystaff Writer, Los Angeles Times, 7 June 2022
  • The Bulls barely shot 32% from the field in a dismal scoring night for both teams, but their All-Stars fared even worse.
    — Julia Poe, chicagotribune.com, 18 Apr. 2022
  • Tanev leaving the game gave way to two of the more dismal periods from the Leafs this season.
    — Joshua Kloke, The Athletic, 26 Feb. 2025
  • The show’s dismal ratings were the reason for Stern’s appearance in the first place.
    — Selome Hailu, Variety, 5 Apr. 2022
  • There's no place like home for the holidays — except for the Knicks, who are a dismal 6-11 on their court.
    — Brian Mahoney, ajc, 24 Dec. 2021
  • Across Greece, anger grew over the country’s dismal rail safety record.
    — Iliana Magra, New York Times, 2 Mar. 2023
  • But Alvarez proved to be more than ready for the big leagues and Narvaez’s defense was dismal.
    — Abbey Mastracco, New York Daily News, 20 June 2024
  • The Galaxy’s start this year was as dismal as last season was brilliant.
    — Kevin Baxter, Los Angeles Times, 13 Mar. 2025
  • Rocky run Investors hope U.S. stocks will rally after a dismal end to the last trading week.
    — Jacob Pramuk, CNBC, 24 Feb. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'dismal.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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