dread
Americanverb (used with object)
-
dreads,
present (3rd person singular)
-
dreaded,
past participle, past
-
dreading
present participle
-
to fear greatly; be in extreme apprehension of.
to dread death.
- Antonyms:
- welcome
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to be reluctant to do, meet, or experience.
I dread going to big parties.
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Archaic. to hold in respectful awe.
verb (used without object)
-
dreads,
present (3rd person singular)
-
dreaded,
past participle, past
-
dreading
present participle
noun
-
dreads
plural
-
terror or apprehension as to something in the future; great fear.
-
a person or thing dreaded.
-
Informal. dreads, dreadlocks.
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Informal. a person who wears dreadlocks.
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Archaic. deep awe or reverence.
verb
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to anticipate with apprehension or terror
-
to fear greatly
-
archaic to be in awe of
noun
-
great fear; horror
-
an object of terror
-
slang a Rastafarian
-
archaic deep reverence
adjective
Synonym Usage
See fear.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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dreadsimple
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dreadssimple
-
have dreadedperfect
-
has dreadedperfect
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am dreadingprogressive
-
are dreadingprogressive
-
is dreadingprogressive
-
have been dreadingperfect progressive
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has been dreadingperfect progressive
Past
-
dreadedsimple
-
had dreadedperfect
-
was dreadingprogressive
-
were dreadingprogressive
-
had been dreadingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of dread
First recorded in 1125–75; Middle English dreden (verb), Old English drǣdan, aphetic variant of adrǣdan, ondrǣdan; cognate with Old High German intrātan “to fear”
Explanation
The noun dread describes the fear of something bad happening, like the dread you feel when walking alone on a deserted street in the dark. Dread is a feeling of fear, but it can also be the desire to avoid something. For example, many people feel dread at the very thought of speaking in front of an audience. As a verb, dread means "to fear or not want something to happen," like students who did not study and as a result, dread getting their graded tests back. As an adjective, dread means "frightening or terrifying," like a dread monster.
Vocabulary lists containing dread
The Grim Reader: Wicked Words of Grave Importance for Halloween
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Uncanny, Creepy, or Downright Scary: Words For Halloween
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"The Most Dangerous Game" by Richard Connell
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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:
As workloads mount and job security ebbs, people are struggling to tame the pre-Monday dread spiral.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
It’s only a matter of time before the scaries ruin Saturday too, turning it into a day to dread the dread we’ll feel on Sunday.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 11, 2026
The vision of a utopian domestic future took a strange turn during the Cold War, marrying the breathless excitement of the space age with the existential dread of nuclear annihilation.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026
Last weekend, a "Saturday Night Live" sketch cast him as a tortured figure, barely masking his dread of AI.
From Barron's ● Oct. 2, 2026
It was the same mist as in the maze: it had the same smell, of power and dread.
From "Impossible Creatures" by Katherine Rundell
To anyone who dreads flying because of ticket prices, security checks, bag fees and leg cramps, director Rory Kennedy offers several more reasons to take the train.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026
But he still dreads the possibility the product of his 25-hectare vineyard in the village of Correns could be declared undrinkable, and that he'd be unable to sell some 90,000 bottles.
From Barron's ● Aug. 6, 2026
It's the call any player dreads - because even in today's club-centric landscape, representing your country at a World Cup remains the pinnacle.
From BBC ● May 21, 2026
Ferrara admits she could also just drive to the Nevada city, but she dreads the prospect of a four-hour-plus ride.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 8, 2025
A conscious woman, in stonewash with her dreads pulled back, is giving him the side-eye and laughing.
From "Between the World and Me" by Ta-Nehisi Coates
Those concerned about safety have long dreaded the day when AI systems themselves are capable of building the next generation of much smarter AI systems.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026
Nor is it “oh no ... AI is the new dreaded tool.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 27, 2026
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said: "We'll start getting rid of the dreaded 'ironing board seats' so passengers can enjoy comfier, more pleasant journeys on some of Britain's busiest commuter routes."
From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026
But they wake up on race day with the dreaded red signal on their watch telling them they haven’t fully recovered from a shake-out run the day before.
From Slate ● Aug. 11, 2026
He dreaded the moment when a tree started to fall over, how its wood would moan and creak as though it was crying out in agony.
From "I Survived the Eruption of Mount St. Helens, 1980" by Lauren Tarshis
And we’re dreading the coming costs to move our cars and some furnishings to the West Coast.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 23, 2026
"We've gone from dreading a haircut, not knowing what he would be like, to him loving going there," he says.
From BBC ● Jun. 17, 2026
And so I was dreading having to editorialize about this, but fortunately a pollster did it for me.
From Slate ● Jun. 16, 2026
And enough with the social-media snark about dreading the thought of Spirit passengers suddenly showing up on your favorite non-discount airline.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 2, 2026
I wonder if she's dreading the rest of the hours in this day.
From "We Are Okay" by Nina LaCour
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
