Inflected forms: dis·mayed, dis·may·ing, dis·mays 1. To destroy the courage or resolution of by exciting dread or apprehension. 2. To cause to lose enthusiasm; disillusion: was dismayed to learn that her favorite dancer used drugs.3. To upset or alarm.
NOUN:
A sudden or complete loss of courage in the face of trouble or danger.
ETYMOLOGY:
Middle English dismaien, from Anglo-Norman *desmaiier : probably de-, intensive pref.; see de– + Old French esmaier, to frighten (from Vulgar Latin *exmagre, to deprive of power ( Latin ex-, ex- + Germanic *magan, to be able to; see magh- in Appendix I).
OTHER FORMS:
dis·maying·ly —ADVERB
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.
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