direfuladj.
/ˈdʌɪəfʊl/ Fraught with dire effects; dreadful, terrible.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > fear > quality of inspiring fear > quality of terribleness > [adjective]
eislichc888
eyesfulOE
awfulc1175
smarta1200
ferlya1225
sternc1275
grisea1300
uglya1300
dreadfula1325
fell?c1335
stout1338
perilousc1380
terriblec1400
ghastfulc1449
timorous1455
epouventable1477
bedreadc1485
dreadablec1490
dreadc1540
buggisha1555
dreaded1556
monster-like1561
dire1567
scareful1567
terrifying1577
scary1582
direful1583
affrighting1592
dismal1594
affrightful1603
diral1606
tirable1607
frighting1619
scaring1641
affrighteninga1651
formidolous1656
terrific1667
terrifical1677
atrocious1733
terrorful1789
orful1845
lurid1850
terrorsome1890
turble1893
timorsome1894
like the wrath of God1936
1583 P. Stubbes Anat. Abuses sig. Fiv Except these Women weare minded to..folowe their direfull wayes in this cursed kind of..Pride.
1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene i. xi. sig. L6v Whenas the direfull feend She saw not stirre..She nigher drew.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Othello (1622) v. i. 39 Tis some mischance, the cry is very direfull . View more context for this quotation
1637 J. Milton Comus 13 The direfull graspe Of Savage hunger, or of Savage heat?
1715 A. Pope tr. Homer Iliad I. i. 1 The Wrath of Peleus' Son, the direful Spring Of all the Grecian Woes.
1781 E. Gibbon Decline & Fall II. xlii. 561 Their sincerity was attested by direful imprecations.
1825 ‘J. Nicholson’ Operative Mechanic 477 The direful effects of using lead in the manufacture of pottery.
1852 C. Merivale Hist. Romans under Empire (ed. 2) I. xi. 512 Prodigies of direful import.
Derivatives
ˈdirefully adv. dreadfully, terribly.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > fear > quality of inspiring fear > quality of terribleness > [adverb]
dreadlyc1175
eislichec1175
grimlyc1175
ungainlya1200
awly?c1225
grurefulliche?c1225
fiendlyc1275
dreadfullya1400
felly?c1400
awfully1487
terrible1490
terriblya1500
fearingly1556
direly1610
dismally1653
dreadful1682
formidably1685
terrifyingly1767
direfully1775
terrifically1778
terrificly1791
appallingly1825
turble1893
1775 J. Ash New Dict. Eng. Lang. Direfully (..not much used).
1846 R. C. Trench Christ Desire of All Nations iv. 66 These convictions..men were too direfully earnest in carrying..out.
1848 W. M. Thackeray Vanity Fair lxii. 560 He passed the night direfully sick in his carriage.
ˈdirefulness n. dreadfulness, terribleness.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > fear > quality of inspiring fear > quality of terribleness > [noun]
dreadnessa1175
ferdfulness1398
dreadfulnessc1440
terribility?1473
terrora1500
terriblenessa1533
diritya1600
direness1605
direfulnessa1656
dire1660
terrificness1727
tremendousness1727
fearsomeness1891
terribilità1923
terrifyingness1930
a1656 J. Ussher Ann. World (1658) 244 Curtius..describes..the direfullnesse of the tempest.
1782 J. Warton Ess. on Pope (new ed.) II. ix. 173 The direfulness of this pestilence is..emphatically set forth in these few words.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1896; most recently modified version published online June 2019).
<
adj.1583