dismayful
"dismayful" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“dismayful” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 9
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Terrifying
Corpus desk
Index EN-dismayful · dismayful · English
dismayful · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 9 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "D" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | dismayful |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| Letters | 9 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “dismayful” in English
Rare enough to double-check
dismayful is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anadjective. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
No generated misspelling entries exist for dismayful in our index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: From dismay + -ful. The correct English form is dismayful, spelled D-I-S-M-A-Y-F-U-L.
Definition
- 1Terrifying
- 2Dismaying; disheartening.
- 3Dismayed; full of disappointment or low spirits.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how dismayful appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
And much dismay'd with that dismayful Sight, That back she would have turn'd for great Affright
O let despair Haunt unbless'd souls; let its dismayful looks Affright not thee, thou source of clearest hope, Which in one stream thro' earthly dullness flows Into this glad receptacle, the heart.
Etymology
From dismay + -ful.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.