The original literal sense of absymal in the 17th century, was ‘very deep’ and people did not start using it to describe something utterly appalling, ‘the pits’, until the beginning of the 20th century.
The word is related to abyss, which is from the Greek abussos ‘bottomless’.
What is the real meaning of abysmal?
immeasurably low or wretched: extremely poor or bad. abysmal ignorance/poverty. abysmal living conditions. an abysmal performance. having immense or fathomless extension downward, backward, or inward.
Synonyms for abysmal: bottomless, boundless, complete, deep, endless, extreme, illimitable, incalculable.
Using abysmal in a sentence:
- They were living in abysmal ignorance/poverty.
- Abysmal (horrible) living conditions.
- The team had an abysmal (awful) record.
- Her grades were abysmal. (terrible)
This article is one in a series of articles on the Origins of English Words and Phrases. As a professional writer one has to have an extremely good command of the English Language in order to communicate decent marketing and SEO Strategies for clients.
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