different between grievous vs dismal

English

Alternative forms

• greuous (obsolete)
• grievious, grevious (less common / nonstandard outside dialects)

Etymology

From grieve, from Middle English greven, from Old French grever, from Latin grav? (“I burden”). Developed in the 13th century.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??i?.v?s/
• Rhymes: -i?v?s
• (nonstandard outside dialects) IPA^(key): /??i?.vi?.?s/ (often used in conjunction with the spelling grievious)

Adjective

grievous (comparative more grievous, superlative most grievous)

1. Causing grief, pain or sorrow.
   • 1883, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island

     As for the captain, his wounds were grievous indeed but not dangerous.

2. Serious, grave, dire or dangerous.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:lamentable

Translations

Anagrams

• grevious

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