dismaynoun [ U ]
uk/dɪˈsmeɪ/us/dɪˈsmeɪ/C2 a feeling of unhappiness and disappointment:
Aid workers were said to have been filled with dismay by the appalling conditions that the refugees were living in.
The fans watched in/with dismay as their team lost 42–11.
She discovered, to her dismay, that her exam was a whole month earlier than she'd expected.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Sadness and regret
- a heavy heart idiom
- be/weigh on your conscience idiom
- bitter
- bring a lump to/have a lump in your throat idiom
- broken-hearted
- gloom
- gloomy
- guilt complex
- guilt trip
- guilt-ridden
- guilt trip
- heartache
- lament
- melancholy
- mourn
- rue the day idiom
- rueful
- sackcloth
- sad
- sadly
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dismay
verb [ T ] ukus
dismayed
adjective uk/dɪˈsmeɪd/us/dɪˈsmeɪd/
I was dismayed to discover that he'd lied.