Adjacent Words

Direful definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

DIREFUL, a. [See Dire.] Dire; dreadful; terrible; calamitous; as direful fiend; a direful misfortune.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: 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" [syn: awful, dire, direful, dread, dreaded, dreadful, fearful, fearsome, frightening, horrendous, horrific, terrible]

Merriam Webster's

adjective Date: 1565 1. dreadful <direful war began again — Charles Dickens> 2. ominous • direfully adverb

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. literary terrible, dreadful . Derivatives: direfully adv. Etymology: DIRE + -FUL

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Direful Dire"ful, a. [Dire + -ful.] Dire; dreadful; terrible; calamitous; woeful; as, a direful fiend; a direful day. -- Dire"ful*ly, adv. -- Dire"ful*ness, n.

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. Dreadful, fearful, horrible, terrible, shocking, horrid, terrific, awful, tremendous. See dire.