dreadful

[ dred-fuhl ]

adjective

1. causing great dread, fear, or terror; terrible:

   a dreadful storm.

   Synonyms: dire, frightful

2. inspiring awe or reverence.
3. extremely bad, unpleasant, or ugly:

   dreadful cooking; a dreadful hat.

noun

, British.

1. penny dreadful.
2. a periodical given to highly sensational matter.

dreadful

/ ˈdrɛdfʊl /

adjective

1. extremely disagreeable, shocking, or bad

   what a dreadful play

2. (intensifier)

   this is a dreadful waste of time

3. causing dread; terrifying
4. archaic.
   inspiring awe

Derived Forms

• ˈdreadfulness, noun

Other Words From

• dreadful·ness noun
• quasi-dreadful adjective
• quasi-dreadful·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of dreadful¹

First recorded in 1175–1225, dreadful is from the Middle English word dredful. See dread, -ful

Example Sentences

But this is splitting hairs when everything else swirling around them is so utterly dreadful.

From Los Angeles Times

In fact, before this race even ended up in the dreadful place it did, I was finding the celebrity alliances off-putting.

From Slate

Or signs of that other dreadful A-word … aging?

From Los Angeles Times

"We will continue to listen carefully to the community as we address this dreadful scandal."

From BBC

"It's been dreadful. It's probably been the hardest year in my life. So, trying to get through everything else and keep everything on track has been really difficult," he said after being asked how his year has been after a difficult year for the Royal Family.

From BBC

Related Words

• abominable
• alarming
• appalling
• atrocious
• awful
• bad
• dire
• distressing
• frightful
• ghastly
• grievous
• grim
• hideous
• horrendous
• horrific
• lousy
• monstrous
• rotten
• shameful
• shocking