dire
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.
Origin of dire
1Other words from dire
- direly, adverb
- direness, noun
Words Nearby dire
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use dire in a sentence
Through interviews with children and other relatives, we learn about a warm and loving person who was fully accepted on her own terms by a wife and kids that stayed loyal despite an unstable and often dire lifestyle.
‘The Lady and the Dale’ explores transphobia in 1970s America | John Paul King | February 10, 2021 | Washington BladeThe commission predicted that the future would be bleaker and that there would be dire consequences for the state’s economy if sweeping changes were not made.
Lawmakers launch override of Hogan vetoes of schools overhaul, digital ad tax | Ovetta Wiggins, Erin Cox | February 8, 2021 | Washington PostIf we don’t have clear and convincing answers to those questions, then the bill creates potentially dire consequences for the internet we know and love.
How a Democratic plan to reform Section 230 could backfire | Bobbie Johnson | February 8, 2021 | MIT Technology ReviewSalsman allegedly told her the situation was dire — she might face jail time — but he could still represent her in exchange for sex, according to state prosecutors.
The president faces many dire challenges, but in one way, he has it easier than Obama did.
So, what happens if nothing in his training has replicated such a dire condition?
Flight 8501 Poses Question: Are Modern Jets Too Automated to Fly? | Clive Irving | January 4, 2015 | THE DAILY BEAST“Driving on both sides, getting around cars, letting them know I was in a dire emergency,” Johnson says.
'Please Don't Die!': The Frantic Battle to Save Murdered Cops | Michael Daly | December 22, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTKim Jung-un clearly recognizes that Hollywood and American popular culture in general constitute a dire threat.
Inside the ‘Surprisingly Great’ North Korean Hacker Hotel | Michael Daly | December 20, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThe results of that rash decision, the most dire of which has been the rise of ISIS, are now plain for us to see.
‘America in Retreat’: Why Neo-Isolationism Exploded Under Obama and What We Can Do About It | James Kirchick | December 1, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThe dire fatalism that dominated the discourse then is gone, replaced largely with a practiced apathy.
Heart of Darkness: Into Afghanistan’s Taliban Valley | Matt Trevithick, Daniel Seckman | November 15, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTDe moi, je ne say qu'en dire, d'autant que je ne veux affirmer ny le si ny le non en ce dont je n'ay vidence.
Car les Angloys s'en veulent dire maistres, et sur ce ils produysoyent des lettres de leur Roy, mais ce que nous croyons fausses.
In fact it was a battle between the dire disease and that powerful constitution for which the Brown family is celebrated.
Hunting the Lions | R.M. BallantyneA terrific roar followed, the canvas was instantly torn open, and the whole tent fell in dire confusion on the top of its inmates.
Hunting the Lions | R.M. BallantyneSome are on wood, some on porcelain, some on glass, some on dire deeds intent.
Tobacco; Its History, Varieties, Culture, Manufacture and Commerce | E. R. Billings.
British Dictionary definitions for dire
/ (daɪə) /
Also: direful disastrous; fearful
desperate; urgent: a dire need
foreboding disaster; ominous: a dire warning
Origin of dire
1Derived forms of dire
- direly, adverb
- direness, 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
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