dreadful
Americanadjective
noun
-
a periodical given to highly sensational matter.
adjective
-
extremely disagreeable, shocking, or bad
what a dreadful play
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(intensifier)
this is a dreadful waste of time
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causing dread; terrifying
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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
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.
New York misfired on 19 of their first 21 attempts from behind the arc—a dreadful 9.5%.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 20, 2026
Marc Cucurella praised Chelsea's fighting spirit as they ended their dreadful Premier League run and provided a tactical blueprint for next week's FA Cup final.
From BBC • May 9, 2026
He shot a dreadful three for 16 from the field in Game 1 against the Thunder, finished with only eight points and missed all five of his three-point shots.
From Los Angeles Times • May 8, 2026
But even that show was more reflective of current cultural problems than prescient, not to mention disconcertingly accurate, about the dreadful directions we were heading.
From Salon • May 5, 2026
On his bedside table were loose matches, unused stationery, a penny dreadful left facedown at the page he had stopped reading.
From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros
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.
