DIRE as ADJECTIVE

1. Meaning
   • causing fear or dread or terror
   Synonym(s)
   • awful (what does awful mean?)
   • direful (what does direful mean?)
   • dread(a) (what does dread(a) mean?)
   • dreaded (what does dreaded mean?)
   • dreadful (what does dreadful mean?)
   • fearful (what does fearful mean?)
   • fearsome (what does fearsome mean?)
   • frightening (what does frightening mean?)
   • horrendous (what does horrendous mean?)
   • horrific (what does horrific mean?)
   • terrible (what does terrible mean?)
   Usage Example(s)
   • the awful war
   • an awful risk
   • dire news
   • a career or vengeance so direful that London was shocked
   • the dread presence of the headmaster
   • polio is no longer the dreaded disease it once was
   • a dreadful storm
   Similar To
   • alarming (what does alarming mean?)
2. Meaning
   • fraught with extreme danger
   • nearly hopeless
   Synonym(s)
   • desperate (what does desperate mean?)
   Usage Example(s)
   • a desperate illness
   • on all fronts the Allies were in a desperate situation due to lack of materiel- G.C.Marshall
   • a dire emergency
   Similar To
   • critical (what does critical mean?)