---
title: dismal — school dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «dismal» in the school dictionary: Dismal means dark, gloomy, sad and dreary; not cheerful at all. Every meaning for a pupil with its dependency tree and pragmatics.
---

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# dismal

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**Who acts:** Dismal, cellar, dismal room, rain, town · **What happens:** mean, be, have, make, look · **To what, where:** dark, windows, town

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«dismal» in the school dictionary: its meaning for a pupil and its 4 examples, every sentence parsed by Mova itself — its syntax tree, a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies, and its pragmatics clause by clause. The word in the dictionary, with its sense in the lessons: [dismal in the school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/dismal.md).

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Dismal means dark, gloomy, sad and dreary; not cheerful at all.

<!-- fold The tree, 11 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:dismal:m1:1
# text = Dismal means dark, gloomy, sad and dreary; not cheerful at all.
1	Dismal	dismal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	nsubj	_	_
2	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	dark	dark	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	5	punct	_	_
5	gloomy	gloomy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
7	sad	sad	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	conj	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
9	dreary	dreary	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	12	punct	_	_
11	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	12	advmod	_	_
12	cheerful	cheerful	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	conj	_	_
13	at	at	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
14	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	12	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | present | Dismal | dark |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent dark=Topic |

<!-- .note -->
One row per clause the reader finds. «not said here»: a role filled from the clause above. «roles by»: a VerbNet class and frame when one fits the verb, else the reader's rules on the tree.

## Example 1 {#x1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The cellar was dark and dismal.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:dismal:x1:1
# text = The cellar was dark and dismal.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	cellar	cellar	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
4	dark	dark	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
5	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
6	dismal	dismal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | the cellar |  |  |  |  | dark *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **be** |  | the cellar *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
What a dismal day for a picnic!

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:dismal:x2:1
# text = What a dismal day for a picnic!
1	What	what	DET	WDT	PronType=Int	4	det:predet	_	_
2	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	dismal	dismal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	day	day	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
5	for	for	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	picnic	picnic	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	!	!	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

## Example 3 {#x3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The dismal room had no windows.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:dismal:x3:1
# text = The dismal room had no windows.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	dismal	dismal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	room	room	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	had	have	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	6	det	_	_
6	windows	window	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | past | the dismal room | no windows |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent window=Patient |

## Example 4 {#x4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The rain made the town look dismal.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:dismal:x4:1
# text = The rain made the town look dismal.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	rain	rain	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	made	make	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	town	town	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	look	look	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	xcomp	_	_
7	dismal	dismal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **make** | past | the rain | the town |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **look** | infinitive | the town *not said here* |  |  |  |  | dismal *property* | vn stimulus\_subject-30.4 «NP V ADJ»: agent=Stimulus |

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**Text:** the school dictionary of Mova's schools (`world/data/dictionary-schools/`), written for Mova. **Trees:** Mova's own parse — the `en` model on the CPU, when the site is built — not checked by a teacher; they may be wrong. **Frames:** Mova's frames reader (`prag`), each meaning and example read on its own. Elamur Cosmic License.

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