dread

1 of 3

verb

dreaded; dreading; dreads

transitive verb

1
a
: to fear greatly
can't swim and dreads the water
a dreaded disease
b
archaic : to regard with awe
2
: to feel extreme reluctance to meet or face
dread the future
dreaded telling him the truth
dread the thought of speaking in public

intransitive verb

: to be apprehensive or fearful
dread not

dread

2 of 3

noun

1
a
: great fear especially in the face of impending evil
were filled with dread by reports of another terrorist attack
b
: extreme uneasiness in the face of a disagreeable prospect (see prospect entry 1 sense 4c)
dread of a social blunder
c
archaic : awe
2
: one causing fear or awe
the days of wooden ships and wooden homes, when fire was an omnipresent dreadF. W. Saunders
3
a
: dreadlock sense 1
trimming each dread
b
dreads plural : dreadlock sense 2
looked great in dreads

dread

3 of 3

adjective

1
: causing great fear or anxiety
dread diseases
2
: inspiring awe
our dread king
Choose the Right Synonym for dread

fear, dread, fright, alarm, panic, terror, trepidation mean painful agitation in the presence or anticipation of danger.

fear is the most general term and implies anxiety and usually loss of courage.

fear of the unknown

dread usually adds the idea of intense reluctance to face or meet a person or situation and suggests aversion as well as anxiety.

faced the meeting with dread

fright implies the shock of sudden, startling fear.

fright at being awakened suddenly

alarm suggests a sudden and intense awareness of immediate danger.

view the situation with alarm

panic implies unreasoning and overmastering fear causing hysterical activity.

the news caused widespread panic

terror implies the most extreme degree of fear.

immobilized with terror

trepidation adds to dread the implications of timidity, trembling, and hesitation.

raised the subject with trepidation

Examples of dread in a Sentence

Verb He can't swim and dreads going in the water. She dreaded making speeches in front of large audiences. I dread the day I will have to leave my friends. I dread the thought of moving next week. I dread to think about what they might do next. Noun She has a dread of failure. He lives with the constant dread of rejection. She awaited her punishment with dread. The news about the war fills me with dread. They live in constant dread of another attack. Adjective every ship on the Spanish Main was terrified of running into the dread pirate
Recent Examples on the Web
Verb
Across the Anacostia River, another fragile Washington neighborhood is dreading the ripple effects of that stadium deal — which still needs approval by the Virginia General Assembly and the city of Alexandria. Ashraf Khalil, Fortune, 4 Mar. 2024 Some of her former students and faculty friends began to dread running into her. Jay Caspian Kang, The New Yorker, 26 Feb. 2024 In Will Gluck's high school comedy, two football players (Eric Christian Olsen and Nicholas D'Agosto), dreading the prospect of another summer at all-male football camp, get the bright idea to go to cheerleading camp instead, where they would be surrounded by hundreds of female cheerleaders. EW.com, 26 Feb. 2024 Productivity: When people dread coming to work, it will be reflected in their lack of motivation and lackadaisical performance. Shannon Gabriel, Forbes, 21 Feb. 2024 Her oldest sister turned to activism, but Hali dreaded revisiting her pain that way. Danielle Paquette, Washington Post, 16 Feb. 2024 Many people dread the 14th day of the second month of the year. Tyler Renner, San Diego Union-Tribune, 14 Feb. 2024 For decades, people with obesity have dreaded interacting with their health care providers. Karen Weintraub, USA TODAY, 31 Jan. 2024 Capote had dreaded such an emergency, and had constantly complained to the city about the lack of access to the house in case firefighters or paramedics needed to respond. Linda Robertson, Miami Herald, 12 Feb. 2024
Noun
Others may feel a sense of dread, especially with world conflicts, intense political division and the upcoming elections. Dinesh Sheth, Forbes, 28 Feb. 2024 And yet, the Danes don’t face the same sort of dread on a Sunday night. Samantha Laine Perfas, The Christian Science Monitor, 23 Feb. 2024 But soon every positive pregnancy test brings a sense of dread, of sad inevitability. David Sable, STAT, 22 Feb. 2024 These early episodes combine the nail-biting tension of Gravity with the eerie dread of a haunted house, to deliciously spooky effect. Angie Han, The Hollywood Reporter, 20 Feb. 2024 The election year, to the delight of Donald Trump’s superfans and the dread of just about everyone else, is all about the former President: his trials, his feuds, his insufferable family. Susan B. Glasser, The New Yorker, 16 Feb. 2024 That flavor of dread wound up destabilizing the storyline, which begins to collapse as Berlant’s overwrought, faux-memoiristic account of her journey to fame is bedeviled by technical difficulties and her own festering doubts. Miles Klee, Rolling Stone, 15 Feb. 2024 In an age of artificial intelligence and bioprinting, Le Tellier imbues our ancient dread of doubles with new meaning. Aatish Taseer, New York Times, 12 Feb. 2024 It’s suffused with much the same melancholic dread that colored that elegant 2008 vampire hit, but a much more elliptical approach to narrative. Guy Lodge, Variety, 20 Jan. 2024
Adjective
More pallid still is the dread planet Giedi Prime, where the cinematographer Greig Fraser makes a stark palette shift to black-and-white, as if to emphasize the vampiric quality of the Harkonnens’ fascism. Justin Chang, The New Yorker, 27 Feb. 2024 Tommy Love’s production design and Lucy Hawkins’ costuming bring the gritty underworld of New Jersey to life, and add to the film’s sense of neo-noir dread. Lovia Gyarkye, The Hollywood Reporter, 26 Jan. 2024 But others acknowledge that, rather than optimism, there is dread going into 2024 that Biden's campaign cannot dismiss. Phillip M. Bailey, USA TODAY, 10 Jan. 2024 Like many great classics of the genre, the film is in no rush to reveal its big bad, building dread as your mind runs wild imagining what fresh hell awaits the crew aboard the Nostromo starship. Andrew Walsh, EW.com, 25 Nov. 2023 But these services also elicit worry—if not dread—in parts of the industry. Prarthana Prakash, Fortune Europe, 3 Feb. 2024 These are changes that neighbors can readily identify, envision and, frequently enough, dread, bemoan and rally against. Ben Christopher, The Mercury News, 25 Jan. 2024 Whether you’re snowed in, or just dread going out, a game night is a great way to spend a cold February evening. Contributing Writer Emily Farris, Kansas City Star, 30 Jan. 2024 The logic of the stories is the logic of childhood: time is elastic, Joseph’s life alternates between monotony and wild adventure, and the less trafficked rooms of his apartment, like the side streets of his town, are places of wonder and dread. Kathryn Schulz, The New Yorker, 18 Dec. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'dread.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Verb, Noun, and Adjective

Middle English dreden, from Old English drǣdan

First Known Use

Verb

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1a

Noun

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Adjective

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of dread was before the 12th century

Dictionary Entries Near dread

Cite this Entry

“Dread.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dread. Accessed 18 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

dread

1 of 3 verb
1
: to fear greatly
2
: to be very unwilling to meet or face

dread

2 of 3 noun
1
a
: great fear especially in the face of approaching harm
b
archaic : awe entry 1
2
: one causing fear or awe

dread

3 of 3 adjective
: causing great fear or anxiety
a dread disease

More from Merriam-Webster on dread

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