If you are dismayed, something unpleasant has happened, or just come to light, and you feel worried, disappointed, and thrown off all at once. It is the drop in the stomach when the only day you can visit, the museum is shut; when a plan you trusted falls apart; when news is worse than you had let yourself hope. Your face falls. You were not ready for this. Though actually, it is more sudden than a long sadness, and more disappointed than plain fear. News writing loves it: Fans were dismayed by the decision. In casual talk, students more often say I was so upset, or that really got to me. It is almost always about something that has just happened or just been found out. And it is never a happy surprise: if the feeling is good, you want amazed or delighted, not dismayed.