dreadful

CEFRB2

/ˈdɹɛd.fl̩/

adjective

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    adjective

    Very bad, unpleasant, or frightening.

  2. 02

    adjective

    Extra detail

    Full of something causing dread, whether

Examples

  • I had a feeling that something dreadful was happening.

  • I have a feeling that something dreadful is going to happen.

At a glance

Sits at B2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
5
Synonyms
2

Deep Dive

adjective

Extra meanings

  1. Genuinely horrific, awful, or alarming; dangerous, risky.

  2. Unpleasant, awful, very bad (also used as an intensifier).

  3. Awesome, awe-inspiring, causing feelings of reverence.

More examples

In context

  • Here some... Look dreadful gay in their own sparkling blood.

  • "...Aunt Em will surely think something dreadful has happened to me, and that will make her put on mourning..."

  • I'm sorry, Miz Terrigan. I'm dreadful sorry.

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The food at that restaurant was absolutely blank, so I couldn't eat it.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

adjective

From Middle English dredful, dredfull, dredeful (also dreful). By surface analysis, dread + -ful.