dreadful

play

adjective dread·ful \ ˈdred-fəl \

Definition of dreadful

1 a :inspiring dread (see ²dread 1a) :causing great and oppressive fear

a dreadful attack

b :inspiring awe or reverence

2 :extremely bad, distasteful, unpleasant, or shocking

a dreadful idea

a dreadful performance

dreadful behavior

The food was absolutely dreadful.

3 :extreme

dreadful disorder

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dreadfully

play \-f(ə-)lē\ adverb

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dreadfulness

play \-fəl-nəs\ noun

See dreadful defined for English-language learners

See dreadful defined for kids

Examples of dreadful in a Sentence

Her performance was absolutely dreadful.
Those children have such dreadful manners.

Recent Examples of dreadful from the Web

The result was a quiet 2-0 loss Monday night at AT&T Park to the dreadful, last-place San Francisco Giants, who entered the night 26 games below .500 (50-76).

— tom haudricourt, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Giants 2, Brewers 0: A quiet night as offense falls flat with only four singles," 22 Aug. 2017
This isn’t an example of the dreadful phenomenon of comedians’ laughing at their own jokes.

— stephanie zacharek, Time, "Comedic Legend Jerry Lewis Dead at 91," 20 Aug. 2017
A very strange thing has happened since last weekend’s dreadful violence in Charlottesville.

— david french, National Review, "After Charlottesville, the First and Second Amendments Are Under Fire," 18 Aug. 2017
Derry, Jerusalem's Lot, and Castle Rock, have all served as different settings for the many dreadful (and sometimes beautiful) things Stephen invents.

— kelly mcclure, Cosmopolitan, "A Comprehensive Guide to Stephen King, the Master of Horror Fiction," 31 July 2017
As Yahoo’s Jeff Passan noted, DH Brandon Miss has improved on his dreadful start to this season while Alex Gordon continues to be one of the league’s worst active hitters despite his typically consistent defense.

— gabriel baumgaertner, SI.com, "As MLB Trade Deadline Hits Home Stretch, Will Gray and Darvish Be on the Move?," 31 July 2017
Rose is coming off his fourth straight season averaging fewer than 20 points per game and shot a dreadful 21 percent from beyond the arc, his worst outside shooting mark of his injury-riddled career.

— chris fedor, cleveland.com, "Cavaliers view Derrick Rose as 'great off-the-bench backup point guard'," 27 July 2017
Hillary Clinton, who performed excellently in the dreadful campaign that highlighted misogyny in our society last year, has known all her life that she is expected to let her hair down, smile, and be the woman who stands behind the man.

— nina huang, Glamour, "Wonder Woman is Great, But There's a Real-Life Female Warrior You Need to Know About," 19 July 2017
Catchers Yan Gomes and Roberto Perez have been dreadful on the offensive side, and though Cleveland is more than satisfied with their defense, the club could accelerate the arrival of the 21-year-old Mejia, currently in Double A, if he's not traded.

— jay jaffe, SI.com, "Fixing A Hole: Assessing trade needs for division leaders, and who would make sense," 18 July 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'dreadful.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.