Meaning of dismally

(adv) in a cheerless manner; "in August 1914, there was a dismally sentimental little dinner, when the French, German, Austrian and Belgian members of the committee drank together to the peace of the future"

in a dreadful manner; "as he looks at the mess he has left behind he must wonder how the Brits so often managed to succeed in the kind of situation where he has so dismally failed"