DIREFUL
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”
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology
Adjective
direful (comparative more direful, superlative most direful)
Fearful, terrible.
Synonyms
• dire
Source: Wiktionary
Dire"ful, a. Etym: [Dire + -ful.]
Definition: Dire; dreadful; terrible; calamitous; woeful; as, a direful
fiend; a direful day.
– Dire"ful*ly, adv.
– Dire"ful*ness, n.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition