Adjective
- 1. awful, dire, direful, dread(prenominal), dreaded, dreadful, fearful, fearsome, frightening, horrendous, horrific, terrible, alarming (vs. unalarming)
- usage: 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, unspeakable, bad (vs. good)
- usage: 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. dreadful, unpleasant (vs. pleasant)
- usage: very unpleasant
WordNet 3.0 Copyright © 2006 by Princeton University.
All rights reserved.Definition and meaning of dreadful (Dictionary)