dire
Americanadjective
-
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.
adjective
-
Also: direful. disastrous; fearful
-
desperate; urgent
a dire need
-
foreboding disaster; ominous
a dire warning
Other Word Forms
- direly adverb
- direness noun
Etymology
Origin of dire
First recorded in 1560–70, dire is from the Latin word dīrus fearful, unlucky
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The UN's beleaguered agency for Palestinian refugees said Wednesday that a "dire" financial crisis had this week forced it to fire hundreds of Gazan staff who had left the territory.
From Barron's
The most significant changes in the various iterations of the report involved the LAFD’s deployment decisions before the fire, as the wind warnings became increasingly dire.
From Los Angeles Times
The share of new EV registrations rose sharply from a year earlier, accounting for about a fifth of all vehicles sold, the study said, although the sector was recovering from a dire year in 2024.
From Barron's
For a decade, Vietnamese worker Minh did tough jobs like sandblasting ships and welding steel, helping address rapidly ageing Japan's dire labour needs.
From Barron's
This was after the NHS issued dire projections that flu hospitalisations could rise to record levels, driven by a mutated version of the virus which is circulating this winter.
From BBC
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
