direful

American

[dahyuhr-fuhl] / ˈdaɪər fəl /

adjective

dreadful; awful; terrible.
indicating trouble.

direful forecasts.

Other Word Forms

direfully adverb
direfulness noun

Etymology

Origin of direful

First recorded in 1575–85; dire + -ful

Vocabulary lists containing direful

"The Tempest," Vocabulary from Acts 1 and 2

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Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

I always say there is something direful in that sound.'

From BBC • Sep. 22, 2014

Sure, if by dangerous you mean significantly riskier than cars but slightly less direful than motorcycles.

From Slate • Sep. 3, 2014

Pliny the Elder, writing in the first century AD, called them prophetic, direful and accursed.

From The Guardian • May 25, 2013

It’s a direful thing to have in your hands, a desiccated version of Lady Gaga’s skirt-steak dress.

From New York Times • Sep. 30, 2010

But at this direful moment she who had awakened no compassion in mortals or immortals was pitied by the tiniest creatures of the field, the little ants, the swift-runners.

From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023