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abyss

Dictionary.com

[Origin: 1350–1400; earlier abisse, ME abissus < LL abyssus < Gk ábyssos bottomless, equiv. to a- a-⁶ + byssós bottom of the sea] 

Yahoo!奇摩字典

n. (名詞 noun)

          1.    深淵;深坑;深處[C]
                      One slip on this mountain and you will fall into the abyss.
                      在這座山上一失足便會跌入萬丈深淵。
          2.    任何深不可測的事物;(智力等的)深邃[C][U]
                      abyss of shame
                      羞愧無比
          3.    【宗】(創世之前的)混沌

The Columbia Guide to Standard American English

abysm, abyss (nn.)   
 
These are two old synonyms for "the pit," the fearsome void that medieval and later Christians envisioned below the earth. 

We now use abyss fairly frequently, meaning either "hell" or "any great hole," such as the seemingly bottomless cracks in the ice that Antarctic explorers had to avoid. 

Abysm (from which the adjective abysmal comes) is much less common these days and seems to be reserved almost wholly for a figurative sense dealing with time. 


abysmal

Dictionary.com

[Origin: 1650–60; abysm + -al¹] 

Yahoo!奇摩字典

a. (形容詞 adjective)

          1.    深不可測的,無底的
          2.    【口】糟透的,極壞的
          3.    極度的
          4.    似深淵的

The Columbia Guide to Standard American English

abysmal, abyssal (adjs.)   
 
Abysmal means "very deep," but mostly in figurative senses: Consider the cliché 

abysmal [ignorance], 
or 
Her concentration was abysmal. It means "deeply awful," "incredibly bad,"

and is pejorative in all senses, as is the much-used intensifying adverb, abysmally 
(She was abysmally [gloomy]). 

Abyssal is a technical term in oceanography, referring to the greatest depths 
(the abyssal [zone]). 
  



　
Heading into this year's fest, the mood was grim. 

The specialty [box office] 
has been abysmal 

since awards season, 
while the acquisitions market has been flat.