dreadful
causing great dread, fear, or terror; terrible: a dreadful storm.
inspiring awe or reverence.
extremely bad, unpleasant, or ugly: dreadful cooking; a dreadful hat.
Origin of dreadful
1Other words for dreadful
Other words from dreadful
- dread·ful·ness, noun
- quasi-dreadful, adjective
- qua·si-dread·ful·ly, adverb
Words Nearby dreadful
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use dreadful in a sentence
Is there a more dreadful sensation than that of your stomach wringing itself out like a washcloth?
He looked, that dreadful afternoon, as if he had just come from his barber, tailor and haberdasher.
The Stacks: H.L. Mencken on the 1904 Baltimore Fire | H.L. Mencken | October 4, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTIn the novel, the moral situation Frances ends up in is dreadful.
Sarah Waters: Queen of the Tortured Lesbian Romance | Tim Teeman | September 30, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTAny of the three on its own would have been dreadful enough.
American Statesmanship Is Depressingly MIA on Border Kids, MH17 & Gaza | Michael Tomasky | July 21, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThere are some hopeful elements in an otherwise dreadful day for human rights.
At the United Nations, It’s Human Rights, Putin-Style | Jay Michaelson | June 26, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
The conflict in Tom's puzzled heart sharpened that evening into dreadful edges that cut him mercilessly whichever way he turned.
The Wave | Algernon BlackwoodHe could not bear to open his dreadful situation to his Uncle David, nor to kill himself, nor to defy the vengeance of Longcluse.
Checkmate | Joseph Sheridan Le FanuAt other times they have a dreadful look of being fibs invented for the purpose of covering a fault.
Children's Ways | James SullyNevertheless, this world of mankind to-day seems to me to be a very sinister and dreadful world.
The Salvaging Of Civilisation | H. G. (Herbert George) WellsShe had wakened up in the night, and perceived with dreadful clearness that trouble lay in front of her.
Hilda Lessways | Arnold Bennett
British Dictionary definitions for dreadful
/ (ˈdrɛdfʊl) /
extremely disagreeable, shocking, or bad: what a dreadful play
(intensifier): this is a dreadful waste of time
causing dread; terrifying
archaic inspiring awe
Derived forms of dreadful
- dreadfulness, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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