Dismay

5 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Dismay \Dis*may"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Dismayed}; p. pr. & vb.
     n. {Dismaying}.] [OE. desmaien, dismaien, OF. esmaier; pref.
     es- (L. ex) + OHG. magan to be strong or able; akin to E.
     may. In English the pref. es- was changed to dis- (L. dis-).
     See {May}, v. i.]
     1. 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.
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              Be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed. --Josh. i.
                                                    9.
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              What words be these? What fears do you dismay?
                                                    --Fairfax.
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     2. To render lifeless; to subdue; to disquiet. [Obs.]
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              Do not dismay yourself for this.      --Spenser.
  
     Syn: 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.
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                So flies a herd of beeves, that hear, dismayed,
                The lions roaring through the midnight shade.
                                                    --Pope.
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                Jove got such heroes as my sire, whose soul
                No fear could daunt, nor earth nor hell control.
                                                    --Pope.
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                Now the last ruin the whole host appalls;
                Now Greece has trembled in her wooden walls.
                                                    --Pope.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Dismay \Dis*may"\, v. i.
     To take dismay or fright; to be filled with dismay. [Obs.]
     --Shak.
     [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Dismay \Dis*may"\, n. [Cf. OF. esmai, F. ['e]moi. See {Dismay},
     v. t.]
     1. Loss of courage and firmness through fear; overwhelming
        and disabling terror; a sinking of the spirits;
        consternation.
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              I . . . can not think of such a battle without
              dismay.                               --Macaulay.
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              Thou with a tiger spring dost leap upon thy prey,
              And tear his helpless breast, o'erwhelmed with wild
              dismay.                               --Mrs.
                                                    Barbauld.
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     2. Condition fitted to dismay; ruin. --Spenser.
  
     Syn: Dejection; discouragement; depression; fear; fright;
          terror; apprehension; alarm; affright.
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From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  dismay
       n 1: the feeling of despair in the face of obstacles [syn: {discouragement},
             {disheartenment}]
       2: fear resulting from the awareness of danger [syn: {alarm}, {consternation}]
       v 1: lower someone's spirits; make downhearted; "These news
            depressed her"; "The bad state of her child's health
            demoralizes her" [syn: {depress}, {deject}, {cast down},
             {get down}, {dispirit}, {demoralize}, {demoralise}]
            [ant: {elate}]
       2: fill with apprehension or alarm; cause to be unpleasantly
          surprised; "I was horrified at the thought of being late
          for my interview"; "The news of the executions horrified
          us" [syn: {alarm}, {appal}, {appall}, {horrify}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  76 Moby Thesaurus words for "dismay":
     abash, abject fear, affright, agitate, agitation, alarm, anxiety,
     appall, apprehension, astound, awe, bewilder, blue funk, bother,
     cold feet, confound, consternation, cow, cowardice, daunt,
     discomfit, discomfort, discompose, disconcert, discourage,
     dishearten, disquiet, distress, dread, dumbfound, embarrass, faze,
     fear, flummox, flurry, fluster, fright, frighten, funk, grieve,
     horrification, horrify, horror, intimidate, lament, moider, mourn,
     mystify, nonplus, pain, panic, panic fear, perplex, perturb,
     petrify, phobia, pother, put off, put out, puzzle, rattle, scare,
     shake, shock, sorrow, stampede, startle, take aback, terrify,
     terror, trepidation, unhinge, unholy dread, unnerve, unsettle,
     upset