dire
Americanadjective
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causing or involving great fear or suffering; dreadful; terrible.
a dire calamity.
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indicating trouble, disaster, misfortune, or the like.
dire predictions about the stock market.
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urgent; desperate.
in dire need of food.
adjective
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Also: direful. disastrous; fearful
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desperate; urgent
a dire need
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foreboding disaster; ominous
a dire warning
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of dire
First recorded in 1560–70, dire is from the Latin word dīrus fearful, unlucky
Explanation
Dire refers to situations or events that cause great fear and worry. A dire calamity causes much suffering. If a family is in dire need, they need immediate help. Dire predictions or warnings tell us that a disaster may happen in the future. If you are trapped between the burning building behind you and the high cliffs in front of you, you might describe yourself as being in dire straits.
Vocabulary lists containing dire
The SAT: Words to Capture Tone, List 2
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"Macbeth" Vocabulary from Act I
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The New SAT: Words to Capture Tone
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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.
See Examples For:
Some argue that the Census Bureau data paints an overly dire portrait of elder poverty.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 1, 2026
In the years since, dire conditions in Bangladeshi refugee camps have driven those with enough money to make the perilous sea journey to Malaysia in search of sanctuary and work.
From BBC ● Sep. 29, 2026
If Fiala comes back early and healthy and if the team adapts quickly to the change in style, those predictions may prove overly dire.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 27, 2026
Long-simmering worries about the technology’s potential dangers have exploded into the global consciousness since Jacob Coxon’s dire warning.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 19, 2026
Did they misjudge this water crisis so badly that they dismissed how dire it was, and left it in the hands of volunteers?
From "Dry" by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman
Rademacher said the showers will continue into at least Monday, with the midweek looking a bit direr.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 2, 2024
The TV series balances humor and tragedy like the film did; however, it’s clear in the episodes that things are direr now.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 14, 2023
The fallout from that could be direr than you anticipate.
From Slate ● Sep. 9, 2022
“It’s getting to be a direr situation,” Hogan said Thursday morning at her motel where many residents live.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 6, 2022
Looking around, the cunning and superstition that was everywhere about us took a direr significance.
From The Wayfarers by J. C. Snaith
Rakhine has suffered some of the direst conditions in the war, largely cut off from the rest of Myanmar.
From Barron's ● Sep. 29, 2026
A recent drought saw the three direst years on record, which dropped reservoirs around the state to dangerously low levels and prompted mandatory rationing and even caused some hydroelectric power plants to shut down.
From Seattle Times ● May 16, 2024
Equally miraculous is a nonfiction movie forged in the direst of challenges that never comes across like an issue-driven medical narrative.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2023
Wales received 56.7% of its expected rainfall between March and August, the third direst six-month period since records began in 1865.
From BBC ● Sep. 8, 2022
I would be in the direst of dire straits, facing a bleak future, when some small thing, some detail, would transform itself and appear in my mind in a new light.
From "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel
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.
