- To destroy the courage or resolution of by exciting dread or apprehension.
- To cause to lose enthusiasm; disillusion: was dismayed to learn that her favorite dancer used drugs.
- To upset or alarm.
A sudden or complete loss of courage in the face of trouble or danger.
[Middle English dismaien, from Anglo-Norman *desmaiier : probably de-, intensive pref.; see de– + Old French esmaier, to frighten (from Vulgar Latin *exmagāre, to deprive of power : Latin ex-, ex- + Germanic *magan, to be able to).]
dismayingly dis·may'ing·ly adv.SYNONYMS dismay, appall, daunt, horrify, shake. These verbs mean to deprive a person of courage or the power to act as a result of fear or anxiety. Dismay is the least specific: Plummeting stock prices dismayed speculators. Appall implies a sense of helplessness caused by an awareness of the enormity of something: “for as this appalling ocean surrounds the verdant land” (Herman Melville). Daunt suggests an abatement of courage: “captains courageous, whom death could not daunt” (Anonymous ballad). Horrify implies dread, shock, or revulsion: The citizens were horrified by the possibility of nuclear war. To shake is to dismay profoundly: “A little swift brutality shook him to the very soul” (John Galsworthy). See also synonyms at fear.
