Indeed, at root, that is what this dismal affair is all about.

The village itself was the usual dismal affair that seemed to be the best the more rustic of the Celts could construct.

If the election becomes a dismal affair, however, it will have the reverse effect.

The evacuations were a dismal affair due to circumstances beyond Spooner's control.

His first over is a dismal affair that disappears for 12.

Daylight had come, a dismal, gray affair, with low clouds filling the sky.

Christmas that year was a dismal affair, but it's always dismal when you're far from home.

Breakfast was a dismal affair; and the day that followed was no less dreary.

No reason to refuse what they had every intention of making sure would be a dismal affair.

I must say,' I confessed later when recalling the dismal affair, 'the store did everything right.