Dire

/ˈdaɪ̯ə(ɹ)/

Synonyms for "dire" (232 found)

Ranked by relevance and common usage.

Closest matches (47)

abominable afflictive apocalyptic appalling arrant astounding atrociousawe inspiringawe-inspiring awesome awful badbadly offbaleful baneful base beastlybeneath contemptblack blameworthy

Show 22 more words

bodeful boding brutal burning calamitous cataclysmal cataclysmic catastrophic clamant clamorous climacteric contemptible critical crucial crying dark deplorable depressed depressing desperate despicable destructive

Adjective(5 words)

acute awful criticalcritical care equipmentdesperate

Strong matches (69)

detestable direful disastrous disgusting distressing dolorous donsie doomful drastic dread dreaded dreadful dreary egregious enormous evil evil-starred exigent fatal fateful

Show 31 more words

Adjective(15 words)

direful dread dreaded dreadful extreme fearful fearsome foreboding frighteninggloomy prosegravegrave demeanorgravest horrendous horrific

Noun(3 words)

emergencyemergency policygrinding

Related words (116)

illill offill-boding ill-fated ill-off ill-omened ill-starred imperative importunatein adverse circumstancesinauspicious infamous infernal insistent instant lamentable loathsome lousy lowering luckless

Show 73 more words

Adjective(19 words)

intense looming minacious miserable nightmarish ominous serious severe sorrowful terribleterrible newsugly urgenturgent issueurgent matterwoefuller woefullest wretcheder wretchedest

Noun(3 words)

most awfulnightmare pressing

Determiner(1 words)

most emergency water supply

Related word relations

OpenGloss and ConceptNet supply richer edges like generalizations, collocations, and derivations.

6 relation types

More general

5 entries

archaic descriptordegree modifierdescriptive adjectiveevaluative descriptorliterary adjective

More specific

6 entries

calamitous catastrophic direful disastrous dismal grievous

Collocations

6 entries

dire consequencesdire emergencydire needdire situationdire threatdire warning

Inflections

2 entries

more diremost dire

Derivations

3 entries

direful direfulness direly

similar

2 entries

alarming critical

Sample sentences

16 total sentences available.

Tatoeba + Wiktionary

You're always there for me, so if you're ever in dire straits, just let me know and I'll come running.

Source: tatoeba (66126)

The economy is in dire need of a jump-start.

Source: tatoeba (237995)

Exporters are in dire straights.

Source: tatoeba (367998)

The world is in dire need of those who think in a more open-minded way.

Source: tatoeba (607683)

Showing 4 of 16 available sentences.

More for "dire"

Meaning

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