Dismay

How to spell dismay

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce dismay

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does dismay mean?

1. nounA feeling of alarm, disappointment, or troubled discouragement caused by something unexpected.
2. verbTo fill someone with alarm, disappointment, or discouragement.

Dismay in a sentence

• noun

  To her dismay, the flight was cancelled an hour before boarding.

• verb

  The sudden rise in prices may dismay regular customers.

• noun

  The budget cuts were met with dismay across the whole department.

• verb

  Such poor results would dismay any experienced manager.

Where does dismay come from?

Language of origin: French

Dismay reached English in the early 1300s from Old French desmaier, a verb meaning 'to trouble, frighten, or deprive of courage'. That word was built from the prefix des- (here intensive or reversing) and a Germanic root related to the verb 'may', tracing back to Proto-Germanic magan, meaning 'to be able' or 'to have power'. The literal underlying idea was therefore to rob someone of their power or resolve, leaving them helpless and discouraged. Over time the sense softened from outright terror to the modern feeling of sudden disappointment, alarm, or troubled discouragement. The same magan root sits behind the everyday words 'may' and 'might', a reminder that the spelling ends in -may even though the meaning feels far from permission.

How the word is built

• dis- (intensive/negation)
• -may (from a Germanic root meaning 'to have power or strength')