dreadful
Americanadjective
noun
-
a periodical given to highly sensational matter.
adjective
-
extremely disagreeable, shocking, or bad
what a dreadful play
-
(intensifier)
this is a dreadful waste of time
-
causing dread; terrifying
-
archaic inspiring awe
Usage
What does dreadful mean? Dreadful most commonly means extremely bad, unpleasant, or ugly. Less commonly, it can also mean causing great fear or terror, which makes sense because dreadful is the adjective form of the noun dread, meaning fear. Dreadful can also be used as an intensifier (a word that makes the meaning of the word it modifies more intense) in much the same way that awful can, as in You took a dreadful long time getting time. In cases like this, neither awful nor dreadful mean bad, but they are typically used in negative situations as opposed to positive ones. Dreadful can also be used in a more specific way as a shortened form of the term penny dreadful, the name for inexpensive illustrated books featuring violent action that were popular in Britain during the mid- and late-1800s. Example: My throat hurts, my head’s pounding, I’ve got the chills—I feel absolutely dreadful.
Other Word Forms
- dreadfulness noun
- quasi-dreadful adjective
- quasi-dreadfully adverb
Etymology
Origin of dreadful
First recorded in 1175–1225, dreadful is from the Middle English word dredful. See dread, -ful
Explanation
Something that's terribly bad is dreadful. Some people love going to the opera, but for others there's no more dreadful way to spend three hours. Dreadful means "full of dread," "feeling a sense of dread," or "causing dread." Dread means fear or anxiety. The adjective dreadful can describe something truly devastating, like the dreadful aftermath of a tornado, or something that's awful on a more personal level, like a dreadful blind date. If it's bad, fearsome, or unpleasant, you can call it dreadful.
Vocabulary lists containing dreadful
Uncanny, Creepy, or Downright Scary: Words For Halloween
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"To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee, Chapters 26–31
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Vocabulary from history writings about the Triangle Factory Fire
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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.
The Academy has been jonesing so hard to hand the man an Oscar that it nominated the dreadful “Licorice Pizza” a couple of years ago.
From Salon • Mar. 13, 2026
It would be possible to convey the essence of “The Life and Death of Peter Sellers,” by Roger Lewis, in a single sentence: Peter Sellers was a dreadful human being.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 12, 2026
By highlighting some of this procedural chicanery, Kagan’s dissent in Mirabelli laid bare, in remarkably blunt fashion, the tip of a dreadful iceberg.
From Slate • Mar. 4, 2026
Spurs are 16th in the Premier League and just five points above the relegation zone following a dreadful run of form.
From BBC • Feb. 11, 2026
Instead of levitating, the car filled with the dreadful noise Humans call music.
From "Klawde: Evil Alien Warlord Cat" by Johnny Marciano and Emily Chenoweth
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.
