Link Centre Dictionary

dread

UK/dɹɛd/ US/ˈdrɛd/ fairly common slang
verb (1) noun (1) adjective (1)

verb

1.

be afraid or scared of; be frightened of

  • “I fear the winters in Moscow”
  • “We should not fear the Communists!”
Synonyms

noun

1.

fearful expectation or anticipation

  • “the student looked around the examination room with apprehension”
Synonyms

adjective

1.

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”
Synonyms
Similar

Origin

From Middle English dreden, from Old English drǣdan (“to fear, dread”), aphetic form of ondrǣdan (“to fear, dread”), from Proto-West Germanic *andarādan, equivalent to Old English and- + rǣdan (whence read); corresponding to an aphesis of earlier adread. Akin to Old Saxon antdrādan, andrādan (“to fear, dread”), Old High German intrātan (“to fear”), Middle High German entrāten (“to fear, dread, frighten”).

Phrases

  • a burnt child dreads the fire
  • dread fascination
  • the burnt child dreads the fire

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Narrower terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.