Direful (Adjective)
Meaning
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".
Classification
All adjective clusters.
Examples
- The direful predictions of the fortune teller left her clients in a state of panic.
- The news of the devastating earthquake was direful, with thousands feared dead or injured.
- The villagers lived in direful anticipation of the annual storm that would bring destruction to their homes.
- The legend of the haunted mansion was direful, a cautionary tale told to frighten children into behaving.
- The direful consequences of climate change were becoming increasingly apparent as the years went by.