dreadful

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dreadful

/ˈdɹɛd.fl̩/

Where it comes from

From Middle English dredful, dredfull, dredeful (also dreful). By surface analysis, dread + -ful.

adjective more dreadful · most dreadful · dreadfull · dredful

Genuinely horrific, awful, or alarming; dangerous, risky. "...Aunt Em will surely think something dreadful has happened to me, and that will make her put on mourning..."
excessive Unpleasant, awful, very bad (also used as an intensifier). Here some... Look dreadful gay in their own sparkling blood.
obsolete Awesome, awe-inspiring, causing feelings of reverence.
obsolete Scared, afraid, frightened. Shame to the slothful and woe to the weak one. Death to the dreadful who turn to flee. Blood to the tearing, the talon’d, the beaked one. Timor Mortis are We.
obsolete Timid, easily frightened.
obsolete Reverential, full of pious awe.

adverb more dreadful · most dreadful · dreadfull · dredful

informal Dreadfully. I'm sorry, Miz Terrigan. I'm dreadful sorry.
Similar: frightening, bad

noun dreadfuls · dreadfull · dredful

A shocker: a report of a crime written in a provokingly lurid style.
A journal or broadsheet printing such reports.
A shocking or sensational crime.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: horrific, terrible, direful, atrocious, dreaded, horrendous, dread, fearsome, fearful, frightening, awful, alarming, abominable, dire, painful, bad

Translations

Every language

adj causing dread

Español	espantoso, pavoroso, empavoreciente, empavorecedor
中文	可畏 kěwèi
Português	horrível, pavoroso, terrível, temível, amedrontador
Français	redoutable, affreux, terrible
Deutsch	furchtbar, schrecklich
Italiano	orribile, spaventoso, terribile
Ελληνικά	φοβερός foverós, τρομερός tromerós, τρομακτικός tromaktikós
Русский	страшный strašnyj, ужасный užasnyj, кошмарный košmarnyj
العربية	فظيع

adj full of dread

Español	apavorado, pavorido, espavorido, despavorido, empavorecido

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MLA

"dreadful." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/dreadful. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

dreadful. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/dreadful

Chicago

"dreadful." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/dreadful.

BibTeX

@misc{dreadful_2026,
  title = {dreadful},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/dreadful},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}