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/dɪsmˈeɪ/ Listen

noun

Dismay n.

Loss of courage and firmness through fear; overwhelming and disabling terror; a sinking of the spirits; consternation. "I... can not think of such a battle without dismay." "Thou with a tiger spring dost leap upon thy prey, And tear his helpless breast, o'erwhelmed with wild dismay."

Condition fitted to dismay; ruin.

Synonyms: Dejection; discouragement; depression; fear; fright; terror; apprehension; alarm; affright.

verb

Dismay v. t. (past & past part. dismayed; pres. part. dismaying)

To disable with alarm or apprehensions; to depress the spirits or courage of; to deprive or firmness and energy through fear; to daunt; to appall; to terrify. "Be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed." "What words be these? What fears do you dismay?"

To render lifeless; to subdue; to disquiet. (Obs.) "Do not dismay yourself for this."

Synonyms: To terrify; fright; affright; frighten; appall; daunt; dishearthen; dispirit; discourage; deject; depress. To Dismay, Daunt, Appall. Dismay denotes a state of deep and gloomy apprehension. To daunt supposes something more sudden and startling. To appall is the strongest term, implying a sense of terror which overwhelms the faculties. "So flies a herd of beeves, that hear, dismayed, The lions roaring through the midnight shade." "Jove got such heroes as my sire, whose soul No fear could daunt, nor earth nor hell control." "Now the last ruin the whole host appalls; Now Greece has trembled in her wooden walls."

Dismay v. i. To take dismay or fright; to be filled with dismay. (Obs.)

See images of 'Dismay'

Etymology of 'Dismay'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Dismay" Quotes from Famous Books

... a touch of magic in the man's writing. His 'spirit,' Shakespeare hyperbolically declared, had been 'by spirits taught to write above a mortal pitch,' and 'an affable familiar ghost' nightly gulled him with intelligence. Shakespeare's dismay at the fascination exerted on his patron by 'the proud full sail of his [rival's] great verse' sealed for a time, he declared, the springs of his own ...

— A Life of William Shakespeare - with portraits and facsimiles • Sidney Lee

... three hundred; surely the match is even." This speech was sufficient. The Frenchmen awaited the onset till the enemy was within pistol-shot; then, after a murderous volley, they charged on the Arabs, who broke and fled in dismay. During the remainder of the day they would not approach this band nearer than long rifle range. [Footnote: Moniteur, December 16, 1833; report of ...

— The Atlantic Monthly, Vol. IV, No. 22, Aug., 1859 • Various

... and the three looked at each other in dismay. Masters of knowledge that had won them world-wide fame and honour, they stood helpless, abashed before this, ...

— A Christmas Mystery - The Story of Three Wise Men • William J. Locke

... me with yer 'ogs; no nor yet yer fellers! The question is, wo't are you 'anging round 'ere for?" Now, possibly deceived by my pacific attitude, or inspired by the bright eyes of the trim maid-servant, he seized me, none too gently, by the collar, to the horrified dismay of the Imp. ...

— My Lady Caprice • Jeffrey Farnol

... he must be counted with nowadays. He is significant of the reaction against formal or romantic beauty. I said the same more than a decade ago of Debussy. Again the critical watchmen in the high towers are signalling Schoenberg's movements, not without dismay. Cheer up, brethren! Preserve an open mind. It is too soon to beat reactionary bosoms, crying aloud, Nunc dimittis! Remember the monstrous fuss made over the methods of Richard Strauss and Claude Debussy. I shouldn't be surprised if ten years hence Arnold Schoenberg ...

— Ivory Apes and Peacocks • James Huneker

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