Definitions for dreadful
ˈdrɛd fəldread·ful

Princeton's WordNet(1.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. awful, dire, direful, dread(a), dreaded, dreadful, fearful, fearsome, frightening, horrendous, horrific, terribleadjective

   causing fear or dread or terror

   "the awful war"; "an awful risk"; "dire news"; "a career or vengeance so direful that London was shocked"; "the dread presence of the headmaster"; "polio is no longer the dreaded disease it once was"; "a dreadful storm"; "a fearful howling"; "horrendous explosions shook the city"; "a terrible curse"

2. atrocious, abominable, awful, dreadful, painful, terrible, unspeakableadjective

   exceptionally bad or displeasing

   "atrocious taste"; "abominable workmanship"; "an awful voice"; "dreadful manners"; "a painful performance"; "terrible handwriting"; "an unspeakable odor came sweeping into the room"

3. dreadfuladjective

   very unpleasant

Wiktionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. dreadfulnoun

   A shocking or sensational crime.

2. dreadfulnoun

   A shocking or sensational report of a crime.

3. dreadfuladjective

   Causing dread; bad.

4. Etymology: From dredful, dredeful, equivalent to.

Webster Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Dreadfuladjective

   full of dread or terror; fearful

2. Dreadfuladjective

   inspiring dread; impressing great fear; fearful; terrible; as, a dreadful storm

3. Dreadfuladjective

   inspiring awe or reverence; awful

British National Corpus

1. Written Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'dreadful' in Written Corpus Frequency: #3528

2. Adjectives Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'dreadful' in Adjectives Frequency: #777

How to pronounce dreadful?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say dreadful in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of dreadful in Chaldean Numerology is: 6

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of dreadful in Pythagorean Numerology is: 8

Examples of dreadful in a Sentence

1. Sophocles, Antigone:

   How dreadful it is when the right judge judges wrong!

2. Polybius:

   There is no witness so dreadful, no accuser so terrible as the conscience that dwells in the heart of every man.

3. Ben Stiller:

   It's one thing to see this destruction on TV or on social networks. Another thing is to see it all with your own eyes. That's a lot more shocking, what you saw in Irpin is definitely dreadful. But it is even worse to just imagine what is happening in the settlements that are still under temporary occupation in the east.

4. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes in The Copper Beeches:

   It is my belief, Watson, founded upon my experience, that the lowest and vilest alleys in London do not present a more dreadful record of sin than does the smiling and beautiful countryside.

5. Judith Flanders:

   The names of the pubs stank. The names of the pubs were dreadful, (They) sounded like cheap 1990s wine bars. We really worked on the names of the pubs (from a published list of names from the 1850s).

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