Dreadful Meaning
/ˈdɹɛd.fl̩/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
adjFull of something causing dread, whether
adjFull of something causing dread, whether, Genuinely horrific, awful, or alarming; dangerous, risky.
Sentence Examples
I had a feeling that something dreadful was happening.
I have a feeling that something dreadful is going to happen.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The food at that restaurant was absolutely ____, so I couldn't eat it.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
I had a feeling that something ____ was happening.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English dredful, dredfull, dredeful (also dreful). By surface analysis, dread + -ful.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
""...Aunt Em will surely think something dreadful has happened to me, and that will make her put on mourning...""
— 1900 May 17, L[yman] Frank Baum, chapter 23, in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Chicago, Ill.; New York, N.Y.: Geo[rge] M[elvin] Hill Co., →OCLC:
"[I]ndeed I began ſincerely to hate my ſelf for a Dog, a VVretch that had been a Thief, and a Murtherer; […] I vvent about vvith my Heart full of theſe Thoughts, little better than a diſtracted Fellovv; in ſhort, running headlong into the dreadfulleſt Deſpair, and premeditated nothing but hovv to rid my ſelf out of the VVorld; […] nothing lay upon my Mind for ſeveral Days, but to ſhoot my ſelf into the Head vvith my Piſtol."
— 1720, [Daniel Defoe], The Life, Adventures, and Pyracies, of the Famous Captain Singleton, London: […] J[ohn] Brotherton, […], J[ohn] Graves […], A[nne] Dodd, […], and T[homas] Warner, […], →OCLC, page 331:
"This time was most dreadful for Lilian. Thrown on her own resources and almost penniless, she maintained herself and paid the rent of a wretched room near the hospital by working as a charwoman, sempstress, anything."
— 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XVII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
"After a dreadful performance in the opening 45 minutes, they upped their game after the break..."
— 2011 December 10, Marc Higginson, “Bolton 1-2 Aston Villa”, in BBC Sport:
"Shame to the slothful and woe to the weak one.
Death to the dreadful who turn to flee.
Blood to the tearing, the talon’d, the beaked one.
Timor Mortis are We."
— 1958, T[erence] H[anbury] White, chapter VIII, in The Once and Future King, New York, N.Y.: G. P. Putnam's Sons, →ISBN, book I (The Sword in the Stone):
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The food at that restaurant was absolutely ____, so I couldn't eat it.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
I had a feeling that something ____ was happening.