Library / English Dictionary

DISMAY

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Fear resulting from the awareness of danger

Synonyms:

alarm; consternation; dismay

Classified under:

Nouns denoting feelings and emotions

Hypernyms ("dismay" is a kind of...):

fear; fearfulness; fright (an emotion experienced in anticipation of some specific pain or danger (usually accompanied by a desire to flee or fight))

Attribute:

alarming (frightening because of an awareness of danger)

unalarming (not alarming; assuaging alarm)

Derivation:

dismay (fill with apprehension or alarm; cause to be unpleasantly surprised)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The feeling of despair in the face of obstacles

Synonyms:

discouragement; disheartenment; dismay

Classified under:

Nouns denoting feelings and emotions

Hypernyms ("dismay" is a kind of...):

despair (the feeling that everything is wrong and nothing will turn out well)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "dismay"):

intimidation (the feeling of discouragement in the face of someone's superior fame or wealth or status etc.)

Derivation:

dismay (lower someone's spirits; make downhearted)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Fill with apprehension or alarm; cause to be unpleasantly surprised

Example:

The news of the executions horrified us

Synonyms:

alarm; appal; appall; dismay; horrify

Classified under:

Verbs of feeling

Hypernyms (to "dismay" is one way to...):

affright; fright; frighten; scare (cause fear in)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "dismay"):

shock (strike with horror or terror)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Sentence examples:

The bad news will dismay him

The performance is likely to dismay Sue

Derivation:

dismay (fear resulting from the awareness of danger)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Lower someone's spirits; make downhearted

Example:

The bad state of her child's health demoralizes her

Synonyms:

cast down; deject; demoralise; demoralize; depress; dismay; dispirit; get down

Classified under:

Verbs of feeling

Hypernyms (to "dismay" is one way to...):

discourage (deprive of courage or hope; take away hope from; cause to feel discouraged)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "dismay"):

chill (depress or discourage)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Sentence examples:

The bad news will dismay him

The performance is likely to dismay Sue

Derivation:

dismay (the feeling of despair in the face of obstacles)

Credits

 Context examples: 

The refectory was a great, low-ceiled, gloomy room; on two long tables smoked basins of something hot, which, however, to my dismay, sent forth an odour far from inviting.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Our friends looked at him in surprise and dismay.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

Much to your dismay, management won’t be interested in visionary ideas or sweet touches you feel can make a project better.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

Alas! To me the idea of an immediate union with my Elizabeth was one of horror and dismay.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

It suddenly struck her that it might be from Lady Catherine; and she anticipated with dismay all the consequent explanations.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

The number of acres contained in this garden was such as Catherine could not listen to without dismay, being more than double the extent of all Mr. Allen's, as well as her father's, including church-yard and orchard.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

Catherine Cusack, maid to the Countess, deposed to having heard Ryder’s cry of dismay on discovering the robbery, and to having rushed into the room, where she found matters as described by the last witness.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

"Mercy on us! What has happened?" cried Jo, staring about her in dismay.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

He laughed at my expression of dismay and laid it upon the table.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Fanny, in dismay at such an unprecedented question, did not know which way to look, or how to be prepared for the answer.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)