How to Use dismal in a Sentence

dismal

adjective
  • The team's record is dismal.
  • The show was a dismal failure.
  • Their own dismal streaks go on.
    — Kevin Acee, San Diego Union-Tribune, 4 June 2026
  • This year’s berry crop was dismal.
    — Molly Absolon, Denver Post, 14 Oct. 2025
  • And their track record with Iran is dismal.
    — Sudarsan Raghavan, New Yorker, 12 May 2026
  • Reviews were dismal, even worse than the first.
    — Lindsey Bahr, Fortune, 8 Dec. 2025
  • They’ve been shut out three times during this dismal stretch.
    — Abbey Mastracco, New York Daily News, 16 Apr. 2026
  • And the dismal numbers were not due to a lack of people who need work.
    — Randy Hicks, National Review, 8 June 2021
  • The win against the Devils was a strong end to a dismal first half.
    — Peter Baugh, The Athletic, 9 Jan. 2025
  • Turnout so far has been dismal, but that could all change Tuesday.
    — Justin Raystaff Writer, Los Angeles Times, 7 June 2022
  • 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
  • Over the last 20 years, stock pickers have had a dismal record.
    — Jeff Sommer, New York Times, 16 Feb. 2024
  • The question is what lessons leftists have learned from the past dismal decade.
    — Michelle Goldberg, Mercury News, 27 June 2026
  • Here are some of the show’s most orgasmic highs — and dismal lows.
    — Jade Walker, CNN Money, 15 Aug. 2025
  • Green Bay’s defense was dismal — to say the least — in the first half.
    — Rob Reischel, Forbes, 29 Sep. 2024
  • Yet another black mark on his dismal record.
    — Howie Carr, Boston Herald, 8 Nov. 2025
  • In the first half, though, Smart shot a dismal 2 for 11 from the field.
    — New York Times, 20 May 2022
  • This bill binds them tighter to the president and his dismal poll numbers.
    — Karl Rove, WSJ, 3 Aug. 2022
  • His poll ratings are dismal and rivals are eyeing his job.
    — Jill Lawless, Los Angeles Times, 1 June 2026
  • May might have been joking, but such is the extent of the A’s dismal start.
    — Matt Kawahara, San Francisco Chronicle, 30 Apr. 2023
  • Morning dawns gray and dismal, but the rain has almost ended.
    — Ralph Tuttle, Outdoor Life, 25 June 2026
  • Schoen survives for now, but who knows what’s next for the dismal Giants.
    — Miami Herald, 23 Dec. 2025
  • Across Greece, anger grew over the country’s dismal rail safety record.
    — Iliana Magra, New York Times, 2 Mar. 2023
  • At that time, the outlook for patients was pretty dismal.
    — Marcy Thompson, Scientific American, 16 Apr. 2026
  • At least the club can now focus on rescuing what has been a dismal league campaign to date.
    — Joseph O'Sullivan, Forbes.com, 20 Aug. 2025
  • And the zero there isn’t the only dismal data on the Cards’ chart.
    — Brett Dawson, The Courier-Journal, 29 Nov. 2022
  • Wings’ slow start to the season The Wings had a dismal start to the season.
    — Lawrence Dow, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 28 June 2025
  • 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
  • Can’t forget the dismal offensive line play, thanks to all the soft training camps.
    — Vic Tafur, New York Times, 2 Oct. 2025
  • But who has the potential to change the Jays' dismal fortunes?
    — Paul Du Quenoy, MSNBC Newsweek, 27 Mar. 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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