Word · CEFR C1 · Frequency #7726
dismay
使惊慌；使沮丧；使惊愕
To make someone feel shocked, worried, or upset; to fill with fear or apprehension.
- 1.
To cause to feel apprehension; great sadness, or fear; to deprive of energy.
使感到忧虑、极度悲伤或恐惧；使失去精力。
- 2.
To render lifeless; to subdue; to disquiet.
使失去活力；压制；使不安。
- 3.
To take dismay or fright; to be filled with dismay.
感到惊愕或恐惧；充满惊愕。
感到惊恐；感到沮丧；使感到忧虑、极度悲伤或恐惧；使失去精力。；使失去活力；压制；使不安。；感到惊愕或恐惧；充满惊愕。；使惊愕
In use
The team's poor performance dismayed their coach.
The news of the accident is dismaying everyone in the community.
Her lack of effort dismays her parents.
Verb forms
base dismay · third person dismays · -ing dismaying · past dismayed · past participle dismayed
规则动词，过去式与过去分词加-ed
Connections
Collocations
- be dismayed by
- 因……而感到沮丧/惊愕
- Many employees were dismayed by the sudden layoffs.许多员工因突然裁员而感到沮丧惊愕。
- be dismayed at
- 对……感到惊愕和不安
- She was dismayed at her brother's careless attitude.她对哥哥粗心的态度感到惊愕和不安。
- be dismayed to learn
- 得知……后感到震惊和难过
- I was dismayed to learn that the library would close.得知图书馆要关闭，我感到震惊和难过。
- be dismayed that
- 对……感到失望/沮丧
- They were dismayed that no action had been taken.他们对没有采取任何行动感到失望。
- deeply dismayed
- 深感惊愕；非常沮丧
- The whole community was deeply dismayed by the accident.整个社区都对这起事故深感惊愕。
Learner notes
Memory Tip
拆成 dis + may：'不 + 可能'，想到'不可能了！'，顿时惊慌沮丧。
Context & Register
语域：formal 常见场景：formal writing、news reports dismay 作动词时多用于正式或书面语境，表示“使……感到惊愕、沮丧或担忧”，比较常见于新闻报道和正式文章中；日常口语中则较少使用。
Grammar Note
及物动词，常用被动结构 be dismayed at/by sth.
Pronunciation & Spelling
may、day、play、stay、delay 都与 dismay /dɪsˈmeɪ/ 押韵（重读音节为 -ˈmeɪ）。注意 dismal /ˈdɪzməl/ 虽以 dis- 开头，但发音为短 i 加 schwa，与 dismay 不押韵。
Usage priority
Collins 词频等级为 2，建议结合例句记忆，而不是只背中文释义。
Learn the forms together
页面下方列出了常见词形变化。学习时注意它们在句子中的语法位置。
Dictionary facts from ECDICT, OCTANOVE, WIKTIONARY, WORDNET.