Dire vs. Dismal — What's the Difference?
Difference Between Dire and Dismal
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Compare with Definitions
Dire
Extremely serious or urgent
Misuse of drugs can have dire consequences
He was in dire need of help
Dec 28, 2021
Dismal
Causing gloom or depression; dreary
Dismal weather.
Took a dismal view of the economy.
Dec 28, 2021
Dire
Of a very poor quality
The concert was dire
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Dismal
Characterized by ineptitude, dullness, or a lack of merit
A dismal book.
A dismal performance on the cello.
Dec 28, 2021
Dire
Warning of or having dreadful or terrible consequences; calamitous
A dire economic forecast.
Dire threats.
Dec 28, 2021
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Dismal
(Obsolete) Dreadful; disastrous.
Dec 28, 2021
Dire
Urgent; desperate
In dire need.
Dire poverty.
Dec 28, 2021
Dismal
Chiefly South Atlantic US See pocosin.
Dec 28, 2021
Dire
Warning of bad consequences: ill-boding; portentous.
Dire omens
Dec 28, 2021
Dismal
Disastrous, calamitous
Dec 28, 2021
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Dire
Requiring action to prevent bad consequences: urgent, pressing.
Dire need
Dec 28, 2021
Dismal
Disappointingly inadequate.
He received a dismal compensation.
Dec 28, 2021
Dire
Expressing bad consequences: dreadful; dismal.
Dire consequences;
To be in dire straits
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Dismal
Causing despair; gloomy and bleak.
The storm made for a dismal weekend
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Dire
(informal) Bad in quality, awful, terrible.
His dire mistake allowed her to checkmate him with her next move.
Dec 28, 2021
Dismal
Depressing, dreary, cheerless.
She was lost in dismal thoughts of despair
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Dire
Ill-boding; portentous; as, dire omens.
Dec 28, 2021
Dismal
Fatal; ill-omened; unlucky.
An ugly fiend more foul than dismal day.
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Dire
Evil in great degree; dreadful; dismal; horrible; terrible; lamentable.
Dire was the tossing, deep the groans.
Gorgons and hydras and chimeras dire.
Dec 28, 2021
Dismal
Gloomy to the eye or ear; sorrowful and depressing to the feelings; foreboding; cheerless; dull; dreary; as, a dismal outlook; dismal stories; a dismal place.
Full well the busy whisper, circling round,Convey'd the dismal tidings when he frowned.
A dismal description of an English November.
Dec 28, 2021
Dire
Fraught with extreme danger; nearly hopeless;
A desperate illness
On all fronts the Allies were in a desperate situation due to lack of materiel
A dire emergency
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Dismal
Depressing in character or appearance;
Drove through dingy streets
The dismal prison twilight
Drab old buildings
A dreary mining town
Gloomy tenements
Sorry routine that follows on the heels of death
Dec 28, 2021
Dire
Causing fear or dread or terror;
The awful war
An awful risk
Dire news
A career or vengeance so direful that London was shocked
The dread presence of the headmaster
Polio is no longer the dreaded disease it once was
A dreadful storm
A fearful howling
Horrendous explosions shook the city
A terrible curse
Dec 28, 2021
Dismal
Causing dejection;
A blue day
The dark days of the war
A week of rainy depressing weather
A disconsolate winter landscape
The first dismal dispiriting days of November
A dark gloomy day
Grim rainy weather
Dec 28, 2021
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