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.

   Etymology: From dredful, dredeful, equivalent to .

2. dreadfulnoun

   A shocking or sensational report of a crime.

   Etymology: From dredful, dredeful, equivalent to .

3. dreadfuladjective

   Causing dread; bad.

   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

   Daniel

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

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. 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).

3. Simon Cowell:

   I'd accept an honour but I don't think I'm likely to get one. The Queen once described me as a dreadful man

4. William Blake:

   What seems to be, is, to those to whom it seems to be, and is productive of the most dreadful consequences to those to whom it seems to be, even of torments, despair, eternal death.

5. Winnie Mpanju-Shumbusho:

   It's very crucial that the world understands that... malaria can be got rid of. That we're not condemned to live with such a dreadful disease - which is preventable and treatable - beyond our generation, i'm an optimist and I'm hoping to see that in my lifetime.

Images & Illustrations of dreadful

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