abysmal

[prettygoodword]

abysmal (uh-BIZ-muhl) - adj., (now rare) pertaining to or resembling an abyss, abyssal; (literary) having a fathomless extension downward/backward/inward, profound, limitless; (common) very bad, terrible.


This once was essentially an exact synonym of abyssal, but where the latter is used for strictly physical senses, nowadays abysmal is almost entirely used for a metaphoric extension, aside from such purple phrases as "an abysmal cliff." And if you're wondering, yes they share a root: abysmal (used in the physical meaning) dates to the 1650, as an adjectival (with -al) form of abysm, meaning abyss, which is from Middle English abisme/abiem, from Old French abisme, from speculated Vulgar Latin *abissimus, alteration of abyssíssimus, the superlative of abyssus, bottomless pit (and source of abyss), from Ancient Greek ábussos, bottomless/unfathomble, from a-, not + buthós, sea-bottom/depths. So "like the deepest of the bottomless pits."

---L.

Comments

[ranunculus]

But Abysmal is such a good word, why is it being abandoned? Frankly it is a word I've always kind of liked and it is sad to see it disappearing.

[prettygoodword]

Whoops! Sorry, wasn't clear -- only that first sense is now rare, and the second sense is now literary. I'll see if I can clarify.

[full_metal_ox]

I remember a letter to Miss Manners (circa the 80’s?) from a group of junior-high kids—who added that if she were to honor them with a reply, “our gratitude would be abysmal.”

The word they were aiming for seems to have been “profound”—with an overlapping body of meaning, but minus the negative connotations. I’ve forgotten the actual topic, but Miss Manners answered their question straightforwardly, overlooking the malapropism.

It wasn’t her job, and this wasn’t the occasion, to be Miss Vocabulary.

[prettygoodword]

That sounds like 80s Miss Manners.