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Abyssal is a relatively rare word, though it's derived from the more prevalent noun, abyss. In contrast, the adjective abysmal is more common than its corresponding noun abysm. All four terms descend from the Late Latin word abyssus, which is in turn derived from the Greek abyssos ("bottomless"). Abyss and abysm are synonymous (both can refer to the mythical bottomless pit in old accounts of the universe or can be used more broadly in reference to any immeasurably deep gulf), but the adjectives abyssal and abysmal are not used identically. Abyssal can mean "incomprehensible" (as in "showed abyssal ignorance") but it's most often found in contexts referring to the bottom of the sea. Abysmal shares the oceanographic sense with abyssal, but it more frequently means "immeasurably great" or "absolutely wretched."
Examples of abyssal in a Sentence
Hilary Whiteman, CNN, 29 Mar. 2023
Beijing announced new tariffs against the US on Friday, deepening the already abyssal trade war between the two countries.
—Aj Willingham, CNN, 26 Aug. 2019
As an open-source project, C:DDA has its inner workings posted freely online, where anyone with a working knowledge of C++ can dive in and add weapons, recipes, and more information into the simulation's already abyssal depths.
—Eric Limer, Popular Mechanics, 17 Dec. 2018
Even here, though, abyssal tuba notes exposed a sonic substratum.
—Alex Ross, The New Yorker, 21 Apr. 2017
Before New Horizons flew by, scientists thought there wouldn’t be much in the way of geological activity happening out there on the fringe, where temperatures are decidedly abyssal and materials tend to freeze in place.
—National Geographic, 14 July 2016
Dictionary Entries Near abyssal
Cite this Entry
“Abyssal.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/abyssal. Accessed 21 Dec. 2024.
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abyssal
adjective
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