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abysmal

 - 3 dictionary results

a⋅bys⋅mal

  [uh-biz-muhl]
Use abysmal in a Sentence
–adjective
1. of or like an abyss; immeasurably deep or great.
2. extremely or hopelessly bad or severe: abysmal ignorance; abysmal poverty.
Origin:
1650–60; abysm + -al 1

Related forms:
a⋅bys⋅mal⋅ly, adverb
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To abysmal
a·bys·mal   (ə-bĭz'məl)   
adj.  

  1. Resembling an abyss in depth; unfathomable.

  2. Very profound; limitless: abysmal misery.

  3. Very bad: an abysmal performance.

a·bys'mal·ly adv.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

abysmal 
1656, formed in Eng. from obsolete abysm "bottomless gulf, greatest depths" (c.1300), from O.Fr. abisme, from V.L. *abyssimus, superl. of L. abyssus (see abyss). Weakened sense of "extremely bad" is first recorded 1904.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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