dire
causing or involving great fear or suffering; dreadful; terrible: a dire calamity.
indicating trouble, disaster, misfortune, or the like: dire predictions about the stock market.
urgent; desperate: in dire need of food.
Origin of dire
1Other 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
However, the Sixers addressed their dire need for outside shooting by adding Green and Morey will be glad that he didn’t need to trade a more immediate pick or multiple first-rounders to get this done.
NBA free agency tracker (plus trades): Warriors acquire Kelly Oubre; 76ers trade Al Horford to Thunder | Ben Golliver | November 20, 2020 | Washington PostBeyond that, he said, holiday-related infections could spread through communities, reaching other vulnerable people and accelerating the already dire outbreak.
CDC recommends against Thanksgiving travel amid surge of coronavirus cases | Brittany Shammas | November 19, 2020 | Washington PostTemporary Protected Status offers protections for nationals of certain countries that have such dire problems that it is unsafe for people to be deported there.
Border Report: ‘They Can’t Continue Like This in Mexico’ | Maya Srikrishnan | November 17, 2020 | Voice of San DiegoEurope has also seen cases soar as much of the world braces for what is expected to be a dire winter.
Americans caught between the dire reality of an out-of-control pandemic and a desire to celebrate the national holiday with family may be tempted to believe that maybe they can manage the risks.
The beleagured nation has been direly impacted by troop and weapon flows into its north from neighbor Libya.
The want of cartridges was what the troops felt most direly.
The Thin Red Line; and Blue Blood | Arthur GriffithsIn his bewilderment Phillotson entered the adjacent cathedral, just now in a direly dismantled state by reason of the repairs.
Jude the Obscure | Thomas HardySuppose she let him see how direly she needed money at this moment.
Mrs. Vanderstein's jewels | Mrs. Charles BryceThen a misfortune happened; trivial yet how direly pregnant!
Darkness and Dawn | George Allan EnglandHow strangely—even direly—the great dining-room affected her—who was so at ease in the nursery!
The Poor Little Rich Girl | Eleanor Gates
British Dictionary definitions for dire
/ (daɪə) /
Also: direful disastrous; fearful
desperate; urgent: a dire need
foreboding disaster; ominous: a dire warning
Origin of dire
1Derived 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
Browse