DIRE

awful, dire, direful, dread, dreaded, dreadful, fearful, fearsome, frightening, horrendous, horrific, terrible

(adjective) 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”

desperate, dire

(adjective) fraught with extreme danger; nearly hopeless; “a desperate illness”; “on all fronts the Allies were in a desperate situation due to lack of materiel”- G.C.Marshall; “a dire emergency”

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Adjective

dire (comparative direr or more dire, superlative direst or most dire)

Warning of bad consequences: ill-boding; portentous.

Requiring action to prevent bad consequences: urgent, pressing.

Expressing bad consequences: dreadful; dismal

Synonyms: horrible, terrible, lamentable

(informal) Bad in quality, awful, terrible.

Anagrams

• Dier, IDer, Reid, dier, drie, ired, ride

Source: Wiktionary


Dire, a. [Compar. Direr; superl. Direst.] Etym: [L. dirus; of uncertain origin.]

1. Ill-boding; portentous; as, dire omens.

2. Evil in great degree; dreadful; dismal; horrible; terrible; lamentable. Dire was the tossing, deep the groans. Milton. Gorgons and hydras and chimeras dire. Milton.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



RESET




Word of the Day

20 February 2025

INVASION

(noun) (pathology) the spread of pathogenic microorganisms or malignant cells to new sites in the body; “the tumor’s invasion of surrounding structures”


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Coffee Trivia

There are four varieties of commercially viable coffee: Arabica, Liberica, Excelsa, and Robusta. Growers predominantly plant the Arabica species. Although less popular, Robusta tastes slightly more bitter and contains more caffeine.

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