Synonyms for dreadful
- adjective
All synonyms
Adjective
1. Terrible
terrible, hideous, awful, horrid, horrendous, atrocious, horrific, dire, horrible, alarming, frightening, dread, frightful, grisly, terrific, horrifying, calamitous, fearful, abominable, abysmal, grim, unspeakable
Other
Definitions
- adj. 1
Full of something causing dread, whether Genuinely horrific, awful, or alarming; dangerous, risky.
Related words
- Phrases
- penny dreadful
Choose the right word
In frightful, it is a sudden emotion; in dreadful, it is deeper and more prolonged; in awful, the fear is mingled with the emotion of awe, which subdues us before the presence of some invisible power.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
Example sentences
- terrible Terrible shooting broke out the night before last.
- awful I think it's awful, that they're spreading rumors.
- hideous Some things get more hideous, when you clean them.
- horrid The ivy is good because it obscures those horrid cables.
- extreme The town is located in the extreme north of Japan.
By length
- 4 letters
- dire1, grim1
- 5 letters
- awful2, dread1
- 6 letters
- horrid2, grisly2
- 7 letters
- extreme2, fearful2, hideous3, abysmal3
- 8 letters
- terrible3, horrible3, terrific3, horrific3, alarming3
- 9 letters
- atrocious3, frightful2
- 10 letters
- horrifying4, horrendous3, abominable5, calamitous4
- 11 letters
- frightening3, unspeakable4
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (awful2 = 2 syllables).
In other languages
- Français
- affreux
- Italiano
- terribile
- Español
- horrible
- Deutsch
- entsetzlich