dire

[dahyuh r]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR dire ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective, dir·er, dir·est.

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.

Nearby words

Origin of dire

First recorded in 1560–70, dire is from the Latin word dīrus fearful, unlucky

Related formsdire·ly, adverbdire·ness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for dire

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|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|DAILY BEAST
Kim 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|DAILY BEAST
The 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|DAILY BEAST

The 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|DAILY BEAST
He was roused from a meditation on these dire imaginings, by the sudden appearance of two figures at a turn of the lane.
The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, v. 1(of 2)|Charles Dickens
Then, all at once he realized that he himself was in dire peril.
The Pony Rider Boys in New Mexico|Frank Gee Patchin
Not even the watermelon revived him, and when a watermelon will not help a boy his extremity is dire.
The Court of Boyville|William Allen White
I will not shock you by relating the extremes to which dire necessity had driven me.
Edgar Huntley|Charles Brockden Brown
The silence was unbroken except for a slight shuffling of feet, but the dire disappointment was depicted on every face.
An Unoficial Patriot|Helen Gardener

British Dictionary definitions for dire

dire

adjective (usually prenominal)

Also: direful disastrous; fearful

desperate; urgenta dire need

foreboding disaster; ominousa dire warning

Derived Formsdirely, adverbdireness, noun

Word Origin for dire

C16: from Latin dīrus ominous, fearful; related to Greek deos fear

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

Word Origin and History for dire

dire

adj.

1560s, from Latin dirus "fearful, awful, boding ill," of unknown origin; perhaps from Oscan and Umbrian and perhaps cognate with Greek deinos, from PIE root *dwei-.