Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use dismay in a sentence

27 example sentences · verb, noun

Dismay means to cause to feel apprehension; great sadness, or fear; to deprive of energy. Example: “He looked in dismay at the destruction of the town caused by the hurricane.”

Examples of dismay by meaning

nounA sudden or complete loss of courage and firmness in the face of trouble or danger; overwhelming and disabling terror...

  • He looked in dismay at the destruction of the town caused by the hurricane.
  • There was dismay among the G7 countries that a joint statement on tackling the pandemic could not be agreed because Trump insisted on calling it the “Wuhan virus” – his crude way of pinning sole blame on China.2020 April 12, Simon Tisdall, “US's global reputation hits rock-bottom over Trump's coronavirus response”, in The Guardian

More sentences with dismay

  • To the dismay of his mother, the boy put his finger into the pancake batter.From the entry batter
  • Most feared of all the Unseelie, the Dullahan is a bringer of dismay and death.2016, Mark Latham, Hunting the Headless Horseman, The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc, →ISBN, page 47. From the entry dullahan
  • A number of European governments publicly criticized France to the clear dismay of French leaders.2015, Ramesh Thakur, “The Nuclear Debate”, in Nuclear Weapons and International Security: Collected Essays, Abingdon, Oxon.; New York…. From the entry Eurodeterrent
  • Some sound of dismay must have escaped my lips, for Jo narrowed his eyes on me.2012, Anthony Quinn, The Streets, →ISBN, page 196. From the entry doogheno
  • “Hey,” Beverly said, looking with dismay at the spider straps that secured Frankie to the backboard.2009, Sacred Trust, page 152. From the entry spider strap
  • Uff da! (UF dah): Norwegian expression used to indicate dismay or concern.2004, C. L. G. Martin, Uff Da!, Tricycle Press, →ISBN, page 2. From the entry uffda
  • And to the dismay of many—not even Mom and apple pie.1980, Katie Kelly, My Prime Time: Confessions of a TV Watcher, New York, N.Y.: Seaview Books, →ISBN, pages 130 and 168. From the entry mom and apple pie
  • Upon returning to his flat, he discovered much to his dismay, that his ficus benjamina had succumbed.1976 December 25, “Untitled cartoon”, in Gay Community News, volume 4, number 26, page 5. From the entry succumb
  • Tucker would do something like that!”" She went out, clucking her tongue in exaggerated dismay.1958, Raymond F. Jones, chapter 9, in The Year When Stardust Fell, Philadelphia: John C. Winston. From the entry cluck one's tongue
  • Pollyanna opened wide her eyes at the remonstrative dismay in her aunt's voice.1913, Eleanor H. Porter, chapter 15, in Pollyanna, L.C. Page, →OCLC. From the entry remonstrative
  • "She made one leap towards it, but when she touched the pitcher, she drew back in dismay.1911, Agnes Roma Johnson et al., “Keeping Up Appearances”, in Pacific Short Story Club magazine, volumes 4–6, Pacific Short Story Club…. From the entry pertineer
  • "Well, why did you tell me?" said I softly, to enjoy her flutters of amazement, of dismay.1904, The Loves of Edwy, Lothrop Publishing Company, page 239. From the entry flutter
  • You know how when you walk into a $2 shop, you feel both a sense of possibility and dismay?2018 November 24, Amelia Lester, “How a chain store captures the essence of a country's everyday life”, in The Age. From the entry $2 shop
  • One sock gone here, one earring there, leaving The left-behinds in incompleteness and dismay, In awkwardness amounting to disorientation.2014, Bagels with the Bards #9, →ISBN, page 34. From the entry left-behind
  • "Well, why did you tell me?" said I softly, to enjoy her flutters of amazement , of dismay.1904, The Loves of Edwy, Lothrop Publishing Company, page 239. From the entry enjoy
  • Grime MC Stormzy has expressed his dismay at Theresa May, calling her a “paigon” at the GQ men of the year awards.2017 September 6, Ben Beaumont-Thomas, “Stormzy: 'Theresa May is a paigon'”, in The Guardian. From the entry paigon
  • "I was reassigned over from the 9th when the battalion CO got waxed on the road leading in." Ben kept his dismay to himself.2005, David L. Robbins, Liberation Road: A Novel of World War II and the Red Ball Express, page 83. From the entry wax
  • He knew the yeoman's job as well, to the everlasting dismay of Huff, who would prefer to take the day off — every day.1999, Jim R. Lane, Duty: A Novel, Bridge Works Publishing Company, →ISBN, page 14. From the entry personnelman
  • “Well”, said Lord Galen in some dismay, “I suppose we shall have to cast lots or play at Eeni Meeni Mina Mo?”1985, Lawrence Durrell, Quinx, Faber & Faber; (Avignon Quintet), published 2004, page 1252. From the entry eeny, meeny, miny, moe
  • Much to the dismay of bartenders, many 20-somethings prefer to close out and pay after every drink, no matter how many beverages they end up ordering.2025 May 31, Paula Mejía, “Gen Z Doesn’t Want to Start a Bar Tab”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company…. From the entry close out
  • To my dismay, the editorial in this month's Bridge World takes the opposite position, arguing that under the rules as written, alerting a non-alertable bid is a violation.2018 May 24, Marty Harris, “Alert after non forcing bid”, in Bridge Winners. From the entry non-alertable
  • Imagine your dismay if you'd been using film and not noticed the dustcart in the shot until you were back home, when your photos had been processed.2014, Simon Whaley, Compass Points - Photography for Writers. From the entry dustcart
  • Every bit of straw-clutching, every bit of hope that Hugh might be alive was followed instantly by a reaction of dismay, of reluctance to pursue it.1962, Lionel Davidson, The Rose of Tibet, page 65. From the entry straw-clutching
  • Princes Street Gardens will be turned over to neips and the visiting Glasgovian will yield pride of place, as a cause of alarm and dismay, to the Colorado beetle.1958 April 11, The Gangrel [pseudonym], “Bats in the Belfry”, in Daily Record, number 19,483, Glasgow: Scottish Daily Record and Sunday…. From the entry Glasgovian
  • To our great dismay, what we find is that in important sectors of the American press a disturbing counternarrative is emerging: That perhaps this election wasn’t a fraud after all.2009 June 19, Shane M., “A Different Iranian Revolution”, in New York Times. From the entry counternarrative

Meaning of dismay

  1. verb To cause to feel apprehension; great sadness, or fear; to deprive of energy.
  2. verb To render lifeless; to subdue; to disquiet.
  3. verb To take dismay or fright; to be filled with dismay.

Full definition of dismay

Questions about dismay in a sentence

How do you use dismay in a sentence?
Dismay is used as a verb and noun. For example: “He looked in dismay at the destruction of the town caused by the hurricane.”
What is a short sentence with dismay?
“And to the dismay of many—not even Mom and apple pie.”
What does dismay mean?
Dismay means to cause to feel apprehension; great sadness, or fear; to deprive of energy.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: dismay (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “How to use dismay in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/dismay. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.