FreeScrabbleDictionary

dismay

Valid in Scrabble

Scrabble points
12
Words With Friends
12
Letters
6
Pronunciation
/dɪsˈmeɪ/

Definition of dismay

5 senses · 2 parts of speech · etymology included

verb

  1. To cause to feel apprehension; great sadness, or fear; to deprive of energy.
    “Be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed.”
    “What words be these? What fears do you dismay?”
See all 5 definitions

verb

  1. To cause to feel apprehension; great sadness, or fear; to deprive of energy.
    “Be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed.”
    “What words be these? What fears do you dismay?”
  2. To render lifeless; to subdue; to disquiet.
    “Do not dismay yourself for this.”
  3. To take dismay or fright; to be filled with dismay.
    “Dismay not, princes, at this accident,”

noun

  1. (uncountable)A sudden or complete loss of courage and firmness in the face of trouble or danger; overwhelming and disabling terror; a sinking of the spirits
    “He looked in dismay at the destruction of the town caused by the hurricane.”
    “Come on: in this there can be no dismay; My ships come home a month before the day.”
    “US reputational damage is not confined to Europe. There was dismay among the G7 countries that a joint statement on tackling the pandemic could not be agreed because Trump insisted on calling it the “Wuhan virus” – his crude way of pinning sole blame on China.”
  2. (uncountable)Condition fitted to dismay; ruin.

Definitions from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA.

Etymology

From Middle English dismayen, from Anglo-Norman *desmaiier, alteration of Old French esmaier (“to frighten”), probably from Vulgar Latin *exmagare (“to deprive (someone) of strength, to disable”), from ex- + *magare…

See full etymology

From Middle English dismayen, from Anglo-Norman *desmaiier, alteration of Old French esmaier (“to frighten”), probably from Vulgar Latin *exmagare (“to deprive (someone) of strength, to disable”), from ex- + *magare (“to enable, empower”), from Proto-Germanic *maginą, *maganą (“might, power”), from Proto-Indo-European *megʰ- (“to be able”). Akin to Old High German magan, megin (“power, might, main”), Old English mæġen (“might, main”), Old High German magan, mugan (“to be powerful, able”), Old English magan (“to be able”). Cognate with Portuguese desmaiar (“to faint”) and Spanish esmayar. See also Portuguese esmagar, Spanish amagar. More at main, may.

Anagrams of dismay

1 play · some not in Scrabble

Words you can make from dismay

57 playable · top: MYSID (11 pts)

Best play mysid 11 points

5-letter words

4 words

4-letter words

16 words

3-letter words

23 words

2-letter words

13 words

Hooks

1 extension · 1 back

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