dread

causing fear every ship on the Spanish Main was terrified of running into the dread pirate Synonyms of dread alarming, dire, direful, fearful, dreadful, fearsome, forbidding, formidable, frightening, frightful, ghastly, hair-raising, horrendous, horrible, horrifying, intimidating, redoubtable, scary, shocking, spine-chilling, terrible, terrifyingWords Related to dread daunting, demoralizing, disconcerting, discouraging, dismaying, disquieting, distressing, disturbing, perturbing, startling, threatening, troubling, trying, unnerving; bone-chilling, creepy, eerie (also eery), weird; appalling, atrocious, awful, grisly, gruesome (also grewsome), hideous, horrid, macabre, monstrous, nightmarishNear Antonyms of dread calming, comforting, consoling, inviting, lulling, pacifying, quieting, reassuring, relaxing, soothing, tranquilizing (also tranquillizing); nonintimidating, nonthreatening

1 suspicion or fear of future harm or misfortune the dread felt by people awaiting bad news Synonyms of dread alarm (also alarum), apprehensiveness, apprehension, foreboding, misgivingWords Related to dread agitation, anxiety, anxiousness, concern, disquiet, disquietude, distress, disturbance, fearfulness, funk, perturbation, solicitude, suspense, unease, uneasiness; scruple, worry; doubt, incertitude, mistrust, suspiciousness, uncertainty, wariness; defeatism, pessimism; foreknowledge, premonition, presage, presentimentNear Antonyms of dread anticipation, excitement, hope, hopefulness; confidence, optimism, sanguinity

2 the emotion experienced in the presence or threat of danger we were filled with dread when we saw the rapids we would be rafting down Synonyms of dread alarm (also alarum), anxiety, fear, fearfulness, fright, horror, panic, scare, terror, trepidationWords Related to dread phobia; creeps, jitters, nervousness, willies; pang, qualm, twinge; agitation, apprehension, consternation, discomposure, disquiet, funk, perturbation; concern, dismay, worry; cowardice, faintheartedness, timidity, timorousnessNear Antonyms of dread aplomb, assurance, boldness, confidence, self-assurance, self-confidence; bravery, courage, courageousness, daring, dauntlessness, doughtiness, fearlessness, fortitude, gallantry, hardihood, intrepidity, intrepidness, stoutness, valor; audacity, guts, nerve

3 something or someone that causes fear or dread especially without reason speaking in public is a perennial dread for many people Synonyms of dread bête noire, black beast, bugaboo, bugbear, bogey, hobgoblin, ogreWords Related to dread apparition, ghost, phantasm (also fantasm), phantom, poltergeist, shade, specter (or spectre), spirit, spook, wraith; banshee, bogeyman (also bogyman), demon (or daemon), devil, fiend, ghoul, imp, incubus; fright, horrible, horror, monster, monstrosity, terror; bane, curse, enemy, plague, scourge, torment; abomination, anathema