Meaning of dreadful in English

Table of contents
  1. Pronunciation
  2. Classifying Adjective
    1. Definitions

  1. Pronunciation

    /ˈdrɛdfəl/

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    UK accent

  1. Classifying Adjective

    dreadful

    Definitions

    1. causing fear or dread or terror

    Examples

    • « 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 »
    • « »

    Synonyms

  2. 2. exceptionally bad or displeasing

    Examples

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

    Synonyms

  3. 3. very unpleasant

    Synonyms

Famous quotes

  • « To me, it seems a dreadful indignity to have a soul controlled by geography. »
    George Santayana
  • « How dreadful knowledge of the truth can be when there's no help in the truth. »
    Sophocles
  • « Ah, mon cher, for anyone who is alone, without God and without a master, the weight of days is dreadful. »
    Albert Camus
  • « I wanted to highlight that whole dreadful process in book publishing that 'nothing succeeds like success.' »
    Doris Lessing
  • « Revenge is barren of itself: it is the dreadful food it feeds on its delight is murder, and its end is despair. »
    Friedrich Schiller

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