1
as in terrifying
causing fear
a dreadful hurricane
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2
as in awful
causing intense displeasure, disgust, or resentment
a dreadful performance of a beautiful piece of music
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3
as in horrific
extremely disturbing or repellent
dreadful news of a crime wave in the neighborhood
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4
as in intense
extreme in degree, power, or effect
the dreadful heat of the desert
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5
as in sheer
having no exceptions or restrictions
made a dreadful mess of his first marriage
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Examples Sentences
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Recent Examples of dreadful
The premise is that adding more road capacity only breeds more traffic (as if that were something dreadful).
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Steve Forbes, Forbes, 18 Oct. 2024
Yabe stumbles back and hides behind the sole piece of furniture in this dreadful space: a small couch.
—Aaron Couch, The Hollywood Reporter, 25 Oct. 2024
Los Angeles, a team under new coach Jim Harbaugh that was built to run first, second and third, was playing the Arizona Cardinals, which boasts of a rush defense which deviates between dreadful and disgusting.
—Jay Paris, Forbes, 22 Oct. 2024
Target’s price cuts have boosted customer spending after a string of dreadful quarters for the company.
—Jordan Valinsky, CNN, 22 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for dreadful 
Steve Forbes, Forbes, 18 Oct. 2024
Yabe stumbles back and hides behind the sole piece of furniture in this dreadful space: a small couch.
—Aaron Couch, The Hollywood Reporter, 25 Oct. 2024
Los Angeles, a team under new coach Jim Harbaugh that was built to run first, second and third, was playing the Arizona Cardinals, which boasts of a rush defense which deviates between dreadful and disgusting.
—Jay Paris, Forbes, 22 Oct. 2024
Target’s price cuts have boosted customer spending after a string of dreadful quarters for the company.
—Jordan Valinsky, CNN, 22 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for dreadful
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dreadful
Adjective
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Learn more › While the roar of the mighty Tyrannosaurs rex in the Jurassic Park film franchise is pretty terrifying, it was actually created by Hollywood special effects wizards using the sounds of a baby elephant.Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 22 Nov. 2024
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In this show, the most terrifying threat is not any singular person or group, but rather, the monsters inside us.Andrés Buenahora, Variety, 1 Nov. 2024
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For the evening, the stews break out their coral dresses instead of blacks which are pretty awful.Emma Soren, Vulture, 12 Nov. 2024
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Jean Dujardin, the French actor who won an Academy Award for that awful silent-movie spoof The Artist, is almost unrecognizable in On the Wandering Paths (Sur les chemins noirs).Armond White, National Review, 1 Nov. 2024
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Iran possessing nukes represents an existential threat to Israel’s security in a way that terror groups—despite their horrific actions—simply never did.Carrie A. Lee, Foreign Affairs, 19 Nov. 2024
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But when Harvey goes missing, Batman is forced to descend into the city’s labyrinthian underground, uncovering a horrific conspiracy by a secret society that has ruled Gotham for ages, one that has ties to his parents’ tragic murder.Todd Spangler, Variety, 19 Nov. 2024
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The vote came amid a moment of intense political debate about inflation.Grant Stringer, The Mercury News, 9 Nov. 2024
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The stakes have never been higher — and the pressure has never been more intense.The Arizona Republic, The Arizona Republic, 5 Nov. 2024
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The sheer scale of phones used in the study let the researchers correct individual bias by comparing the devices against each other.Mack DeGeurin, Popular Science, 13 Nov. 2024
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The sheer number of cyclists snarled traffic and prompted restrictions by the city's tourism-hungry officials, who had encouraged them to come.Elizabeth Robinson, NBC News, 12 Nov. 2024
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Natty’s son, Bart, is also present at their arrival, boasting about how horrible business has been and that the dude ranch will soon be sold for a hefty sum of money.Sara Belcher, People.com, 19 Nov. 2024
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But the return of Terry Silver and that horrible Sekai Taikai tragedy seemed to put any hope for romance on pause, at least for now.Nick Caruso, TVLine, 19 Nov. 2024
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George Kittle On the ugly game: Being able to deal with all of that and still come out with a win.Cam Inman, The Mercury News, 10 Nov. 2024
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Poor Sue, who wins the challenge and has to wear that ugly bat signal around her neck.Brian Moylan, Vulture, 6 Nov. 2024
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But the indictment returned by a Georgia grand jury in May detailed a gruesome confrontation in which Ibarra allegedly asphyxiated the student, hit her over the head with a rock to the point of disfiguring her skull, and pulled up her clothing, intending to rape her.Emily Mae Czachor, CBS News, 20 Nov. 2024
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The gruesome case garnered significant media attention after her remains were discovered, leading then-President Trump to invite Guillén's family and television crews to the White House to offer his condolences.Kyler Alvord, People.com, 23 Oct. 2024
Thesaurus Entries Near dreadful
Cite this Entry
“Dreadful.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dreadful. Accessed 28 Nov. 2024.
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