The phrase "act dismayed" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used when describing someone's behavior or reaction to a disappointing or surprising situation.
Example: "When she heard the news, she couldn't help but act dismayed, even though she had expected it all along."
Alternatives: "appear shocked" or "seem troubled".
Berle's lowbrow shtick and his drag-show act dismayed television pioneers like RCA's Vladimir Zworykin, who thought they had invented a new means of disseminating high culture to the masses.
When large groups of Yale men act this out publicly, Yale can act dismayed, and nominally condemn it, but without actually punishing the harassers, without calling it sexual harassment, without addressing the culture that has made so many men "lapse in judgment" so many times over so many years, the school has allowed this culture to persist.
For Mr Salmond to act dismayed by anti-English grumbling requires a degree of political chutzpah bordering on performance art.
This act dismayed the fervently anti-communist Bruce, who disagreed with the decision ideologically and on the grounds that once again the dominions had not been consulted.
Once, after too much wine, I asked him if he had ever thought about being unfaithful and he acted completely shocked and dismayed – if I'd pushed the conversation it would have ended, not mended, the marriage.
The chorus likewise declared some of their music impossible to sing, and were dismayed that they had to act as individuals, smoking and fighting onstage rather than merely standing in line.
They squealed at the story of "Piggy Pie"; they acted out with joyous waving arms the dismayed baby bear discovering Goldilocks.
True conservatives know that Mr. Nader has been as much an opponent of big government as he has been of big corporations, and they are as dismayed as he at the Patriot Act, the Bush deficits and the loss of American sovereignty to international corporate power under the World Trade Organization.
In mid-1735, Frederick, Prince of Wales, was further dismayed when Caroline, rather than himself, again acted as regent while the King was absent in Hanover.
Which is why, on Sept. 11, Ford, who first saw the terrorist attack on television in his suite at the Carlyle Hotel, was horrified and dismayed, but also, as a businessman, quick to act and put it in perspective.
Users can always report people they've connected with if they act sketchy, though with the new map feature I was dismayed to learn they can't yet report people they haven't seen or rejected in the app.
