abysmal
English
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /əˈbɪz.məl/, [əˈbɪz.ml̩]
Audio (US) (file) - Rhymes: -ɪzməl
Adjective
abysmal (comparative more abysmal, superlative most abysmal)
- (now rare) Pertaining to, or resembling an abyss. [First attested in the mid 17th century.][1]
- Synonyms: unending, profound, fathomless, immeasurable
- 1851, Thomas Carlyle, The Life of John Sterling, London: Chapman and Hall, […], →OCLC:
- The latter [geology] gives one the same sort of bewildering view of the abysmal extent of Time that Astronomy does of Space. [First attested in the early 19th century.][1]
- (figurative) extremely bad; terrible.
- 2012 June 9, Owen Phillips, “Euro 2012: Netherlands 0-1 Denmark”, in BBC Sport:
- Robben curled an effort against the foot of the post from the edge of the box after being gifted the ball by an abysmal clearance from keeper Stephan Andersen.
Derived terms
Collocations
with nouns
- abysmal ignorance
- abysmal record
- abysmal performance
- abysmal poverty
- abysmal conditions
- abysmal quality
- abysmal result
- abysmal service
- abysmal failure
Translations
pertaining to, or resembling an abyss; bottomless; unending; profound
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extremely bad
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
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References
- Lesley Brown, editor-in-chief, William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, editors (2002), “abysmal”, in The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles, 5th edition, Oxford, New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 11.
Further reading
- “abysmal”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- “abysmal”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
Anagrams
Portuguese
Adjective
abysmal m or f (plural abysmaes)
- Pre-reform spelling (until Brazil 1943/Portugal 1911) of abismal.
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