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- Dictionarydire·ful/ˈdī(ə)rfəl/
adjective
- 1. extremely bad; dreadful. archaic, literary
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1. : dreadful. direful war began again Charles Dickens. 2. : ominous. direfully. ˈdī (-ə)r-fə-lē. adverb. Synonyms. baleful. dire. doomy. foreboding. ill-boding. inauspicious. menacing. minatory. ominous. portentous. sinister. threatening. See all Synonyms & Antonyms in Thesaurus.
adjective. literary uk / ˈdaɪə.f ə l / us / ˈdaɪr.f ə l / Add to word list. very bad or unpleasant: The direful conflict would soon culminate in civil war. She was overcome by a direful terror that her torment would never end. Fewer examples. He was cursing again, for he had stumbled against the sharp leaves of a cactus with direful results.
Direful definition: dreadful; awful; terrible.. See examples of DIREFUL used in a sentence.
Definitions of direful. adjective. causing fear or dread or terror. “a career or vengeance so direful that London was shocked”. synonyms: awful, dire, dread, dreaded, dreadful, fearful, fearsome, frightening, horrendous, horrific, terrible. alarming. frightening because of an awareness of danger.
direful in British English. (ˈdaɪəfʊl ) adjective. literary. dire; awful; very bad. heedless of the direful consequences that might flow from such an act. direful and pestilential diseases. Collins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers.
1. Causing or able to cause fear: appalling, dire, dreadful, fearful, fearsome, formidable, frightful, ghastly, redoubtable, scary, terrible, tremendous. 2. Portending future disaster: apocalyptic, apocalyptical, baneful, dire, fateful, fire-and-brimstone, grave, hellfire, ominous, portentous, unlucky. The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus.
adjective. uk / daɪə r/ us / daɪr / Add to word list. very serious or extreme: in dire need of These people are in dire need of help. dire warning He gave a dire warning that an earthquake was imminent. dire consequences This decision will have dire consequences for local people. Synonyms. dreadful (FRIGHTENING) ghastly. horrendous. horrible.
adjective. Dreadful; terrible. Webster's New World. Similar definitions. Foreshadowing evil or disaster; ominous. American Heritage. Synonyms: fearsome. fearful. dreadful. dire. terrible. horrific. horrendous. frightening. dreaded. awful. unlucky. portentous. ominous. hellfire. Antonyms: nice. good. Origin of Direful. From dire + -ful.
noun. Word origin. [ 1575–85; dire + -ful] Word Frequency. direful in British English. (ˈdaɪəfʊl ) adjective. literary. dire; awful; very bad. heedless of the direful consequences that might flow from such an act. direful and pestilential diseases.
Synonyms for DIREFUL: ominous, sinister, menacing, bleak, threatening, dire, portentous, inauspicious; Antonyms of DIREFUL: favorable, promising, benign, bright, golden, prosperous, auspicious, hopeful
