dreadful

[ dred-fuhl ]
See synonyms for dreadful on Thesaurus.com
adjective
  1. causing great dread, fear, or terror; terrible: a dreadful storm.

  2. inspiring awe or reverence.

  1. extremely bad, unpleasant, or ugly: dreadful cooking; a dreadful hat.

nounBritish.
  1. a periodical given to highly sensational matter.

Origin of dreadful

1
First recorded in 1175–1225, dreadful is from the Middle English word dredful.See dread, -ful

Other words for dreadful

Other words from dreadful

  • dread·ful·ness, noun
  • quasi-dreadful, adjective
  • qua·si-dread·ful·ly, adverb

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

How to use dreadful in a sentence

  • It is the old men, the women, the children, the babies and the physically imperfect who must bear the brunt of dreadfulness.

    Private Peat | Harold R. Peat
  • Along with this well-being came again appreciation of the dreadfulness of her case.

    Heart of the Blue Ridge | Waldron Baily
  • The Death of Halpin Frazer has a touch of almost unbearable dreadfulness.

  • Need we remind you again of the dreadfulness of hell—of the certainty that it shall overtake the impenitent sinner?

  • These witnesses He qualified to see the truth in its vast proportions and feel it in its divine dreadfulness.

    Sketches of the Covenanters | J. C. McFeeters

British Dictionary definitions for dreadful

dreadful

/ (ˈdrɛdfʊl) /


adjective
  1. extremely disagreeable, shocking, or bad: what a dreadful play

  2. (intensifier): this is a dreadful waste of time

  1. causing dread; terrifying

  2. archaic inspiring awe

Derived forms of dreadful

  • dreadfulness, 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