verb ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Verb

1. 1
   To be in dread of. intransitive, obsolete
2. 2
   To terrify greatly. obsolete, transitive

Etymology

From Middle English fordreden, from Old English fordrǣdan (“to terrify”), equivalent to for- + dread.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.