dire

[ dahyuhr ]
See synonyms for: diredirest on Thesaurus.com

adjective,dir·er, dir·est.
  1. causing or involving great fear or suffering; dreadful; terrible: a dire calamity.

  2. indicating trouble, disaster, misfortune, or the like: dire predictions about the stock market.

  1. urgent; desperate: in dire need of food.

Origin of dire

1
First recorded in 1560–70, dire is from the Latin word dīrus fearful, unlucky

Other words from dire

  • direly, adverb
  • direness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use dire in a sentence

  • The beleagured nation has been direly impacted by troop and weapon flows into its north from neighbor Libya.

    Mali's in Trouble | Justin Green | January 11, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST
  • The want of cartridges was what the troops felt most direly.

  • In his bewilderment Phillotson entered the adjacent cathedral, just now in a direly dismantled state by reason of the repairs.

    Jude the Obscure | Thomas Hardy
  • Suppose she let him see how direly she needed money at this moment.

    Mrs. Vanderstein's jewels | Mrs. Charles Bryce
  • Then a misfortune happened; trivial yet how direly pregnant!

    Darkness and Dawn | George Allan England
  • How strangely—even direly—the great dining-room affected her—who was so at ease in the nursery!

British Dictionary definitions for dire

dire

/ (daɪə) /


adjective(usually prenominal)
  1. Also: direful disastrous; fearful

  2. desperate; urgent: a dire need

  1. foreboding disaster; ominous: a dire warning

Origin of dire

1
C16: from Latin dīrus ominous, fearful; related to Greek deos fear

Derived forms of dire

  • direly, adverb
  • direness, 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