dire

fraught with extreme danger; nearly hopeless

• “a desperate illness”
• “on all fronts the Allies were in a desperate situation due to lack of materiel” G.C.Marshall
• “a dire emergency”

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”