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
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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
- 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
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.
In January, when they typically would have been in balmy Palm Springs, the weather back home was dreadful, she said.
From Los Angeles Times
"If they do not come back, these hotheads, how are we to survive? What will happen if the Zebak invade once more? Or if some other dreadful danger threatens?"
From Literature
Spurs are 16th in the Premier League and just five points above the relegation zone following a dreadful run of form.
From BBC
Harrow East MP Bob Blackman said he was "deeply shocked and saddened to hear the dreadful news".
From BBC
The dreadful prospect of that bonded work had never seemed as real to me as it did at that moment.
From Literature
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.
