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Synonyms

dreading

American  
[dred-ing] / ˈdrɛd ɪŋ /

verb

  1. the present participle of dread.

Etymology

Origin of dreading

dread + -ing 2

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.

“When you get on a plane, you know you’re that guy that everybody is dreading sitting next to.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 7, 2026

The couple is among thousands of immigrant parents hiding in their homes in Minneapolis, dreading that federal agents will come knocking.

From Barron's • Feb. 2, 2026

The scene everyone is dreading and/or waiting for doesn’t exist, so what exists in its place?

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 25, 2025

Each night, she would lie awake dreading the next day.

From Slate • Sep. 15, 2025

Everything he’d been dreading was coming together in one terrible moment.

From "Fallout: Spies, Superbombs, and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown" by Steve Sheinkin

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.