Meaning & use
dreadful
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Meanings
adjectivecomparable
Very bad or unpleasant, in a way that makes you uneasy, upset or annoyed.
Grammar: Used before a noun or after a linking verb: a dreadful mistake, the food was dreadful.
Patterns
- dreadful to do something
- a dreadful time
We had a dreadful journey home in the rain.
The coffee at that cafe is dreadful.
It was dreadful to see the old house in such a state.
adjectivecomparableliterary
Causing great fear, horror or sorrow, usually because of something serious.
Grammar: Usually before a noun when describing events: a dreadful accident.
Patterns
- a dreadful event
Villagers still talk about the dreadful fire of that winter.
A dreadful silence followed the news of the crash.
The old story describes a dreadful beast in the forest.
adjectiveafter a verbinformalBritish
Unwell, guilty or embarrassed, used with feel.
Grammar: Appears mainly after feel: I feel dreadful.
Patterns
- feel dreadful about something
I feel dreadful about forgetting your birthday.
She looked dreadful after two nights without sleep.
He felt dreadful for letting the team down.
Word forms
| comparative | more dreadful |
|---|---|
| superlative | most dreadful |
Common combinations
- a dreadful mistake
- Leaving the gas on was a dreadful mistake.
- dreadful weather
- The match was cancelled because of dreadful weather.
- feel dreadful
- I feel dreadful about missing your party.
- look dreadful
- You look dreadful; did you sleep at all?
- a dreadful shame
- It's a dreadful shame the park is closing.
- dreadful news
- We heard dreadful news about the flood.
Synonyms and how they differ
- awful
- Awful is the most common everyday word and is a little less formal or old-fashioned than dreadful.
- terrible
- Terrible is stronger and often suits serious harm, while dreadful can be used lightly for annoying things like bad weather.
- appalling
- Appalling suggests shock and disapproval, which dreadful does not always carry.
- horrible
- Horrible stresses how unpleasant something is to see, taste or hear, whereas dreadful can describe a general badness.
Opposites
Word family
- dread noun
- great fear about something that may happen
- dread verb
- to fear something in the future
- dreadfully adverb
- extremely or in a very bad way
- dreadfulness noun
- the quality of being dreadful
Commonly confused: dreadful or dreaded?
dreadful vs dreaded
Dreaded means feared in advance, as in the dreaded exam, whereas dreadful means very bad in itself.
Practice
The hotel room was so ____ that we asked for our money back.
Choose one answer.
We need an adjective after was and before the clause, meaning very bad. Dreaded means feared beforehand, and dreadfully is an adverb.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “dreadful”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.