dreadful — ► ADJECTIVE 1) extremely bad or serious. 2) used for emphasis: a dreadful flirt. DERIVATIVES dreadfully adverb … English terms dictionary
dreadful — index adverse (negative), bad (inferior), deplorable, detrimental, dire, disastrous, disreputable … Law dictionary
dreadful — early 13c., full of dread, from DREAD (Cf. dread) + FUL (Cf. ful). Meaning causing dread is from mid 13c.; weakened sense of very bad is from c.1700. Related: Dreadfully … Etymology dictionary
dreadful — horrible, horrific, appalling, *fearful, awful, frightful, terrible, terrific, shocking … New Dictionary of Synonyms
dreadful — [adj] horrible, frightening abominable, alarming, appalling, atrocious, awful, bad, beastly, creepy*, dire, distressing, fearful, formidable, frightful, frozen, ghastly, godawful*, grievous, grim, grody*, gross*, hideous, horrendous, horrific,… … New thesaurus
dreadful — [dred′fəl] adj. [ME dredeful] 1. inspiring dread; terrible or awesome 2. Informal very bad, offensive, disagreeable, etc. dreadfulness n … English World dictionary
dreadful — [[t]dre̱dfʊl[/t]] 1) ADJ GRADED If you say that something is dreadful, you mean that it is very bad or unpleasant, or very poor in quality. They told us the dreadful news... My financial situation is dreadful. Syn: awful, appalling Derived words … English dictionary
dreadful — I. adjective Date: 13th century 1. a. inspiring dread ; causing great and oppressive fear < a dreadful storm > b. inspiring awe or reverence < the dreadful sublimity of the mountain peaks > 2. extremely bad, distasteful, unpleasant, or shocking … New Collegiate Dictionary
dreadful — adj. VERBS ▪ be, feel, look, smell, sound, taste ▪ Poor thing! You look absolutely dreadful! (= very ill) ADVERB ▪ … Collocations dictionary
dreadful — dreadfulness, n. /dred feuhl/, adj. 1. causing great dread, fear, or terror; terrible: a dreadful storm. 2. inspiring awe or reverence. 3. extremely bad, unpleasant, or ugly: dreadful cooking; a dreadful hat. n. Brit. 4. See penny dreadful. 5. a… … Universalium
