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dread

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noun

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dread

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verb

Synonym Chooser

How is the word dread distinct from other similar nouns?

Some common synonyms of dread are alarm, fear, fright, panic, terror, and trepidation. While all these words mean "painful agitation in the presence or anticipation of danger," 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

When is alarm a more appropriate choice than dread?

In some situations, the words alarm and dread are roughly equivalent. However, alarm suggests a sudden and intense awareness of immediate danger.

view the situation with alarm

When could fear be used to replace dread?

The meanings of fear and dread largely overlap; however, fear is the most general term and implies anxiety and usually loss of courage.

fear of the unknown

In what contexts can fright take the place of dread?

Although the words fright and dread have much in common, fright implies the shock of sudden, startling fear.

fright at being awakened suddenly

Where would panic be a reasonable alternative to dread?

The synonyms panic and dread are sometimes interchangeable, but panic implies unreasoning and overmastering fear causing hysterical activity.

the news caused widespread panic

When might terror be a better fit than dread?

While in some cases nearly identical to dread, terror implies the most extreme degree of fear.

immobilized with terror

How do trepidation and dread relate to one another?

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

raised the subject with trepidation

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of dread
Adjective
No wonder so many people dread it. Julia Korn, Forbes.com, 25 Aug. 2025 Hollywood writers often dread getting notes from studio executives about their scripts. James Hibberd, HollywoodReporter, 22 Aug. 2025
Noun
The issue then, is that the mineral UV filters zinc oxide and titanium dioxide that create that shield are naturally white powders known to deliver the white cast many of us so dread. Kiana Murden, Vogue, 9 July 2025 Inside the country, optimism and dread wrestle for the soul of a people. Nazanin Boniadi, Time, 17 June 2025
Verb
That dread has blossomed by midnight, when the room suddenly goes dark. Rowan Jacobsen, Harpers Magazine, 24 Oct. 2025 To say much more would be to spoil the twisted twists of the plot, in which the director finally applies his affinity for mounting dread to a bona fide horror movie — albeit one characterized by the off-kilter black humor that had become his speciality by that point. A.a. Dowd, Vulture, 24 Oct. 2025 See All Example Sentences for dread
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dread
Adjective
  • In the del Toro version, the creature played by Jacob Elordi is not terrifying, the director told Entertainment Weekly in September before the film debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival.
    Raechal Shewfelt, Entertainment Weekly, 21 Oct. 2025
  • The line occurs when the film’s protagonist, Ripley (Weaver), emerges from an elevator in a giant metal bodysuit, ready to fight a terrifying alien to save a young child.
    Toria Sheffield, PEOPLE, 19 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • Shanahan, the head coach in Washington from 2010 to 2013, once grilled Paulsen on offensive tackle protections out of worry the tight end might have to play emergency tackle in a preseason game.
    Jourdan Rodrigue, New York Times, 25 Oct. 2025
  • Those worries resulted in a European bank stock selloff last week, although the sector quickly rebounded.
    Tasmin Lockwood, CNBC, 24 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • The result came after Milei’s party suffered a landslide defeat to the Peronist opposition in a September local vote in the Buenos Aires province, an outcome that sparked a selloff of the peso amid investor fears over the president’s standing with voters.
    Jason Ma, Fortune, 27 Oct. 2025
  • Harrison expressed deep fears that the White House could take an ax to CPB and public media more broadly.
    David Folkenflik, NPR, 27 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • That mixture of terror and safety is the secret sauce for Mike Jubie, creator of the Headless Horseman Hayrides and Haunted Houses in New York’s historic Hudson Valley.
    Isabel Rosales, CNN Money, 25 Oct. 2025
  • On the other, a vision of what life would be like without the terror group.
    Efrat Lachter, FOXNews.com, 25 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • Even more frightening for journalists is the idea that generations are growing up without the habit of following news, particularly for their own communities.
    David Bauder, Fortune, 21 Oct. 2025
  • Witch-burning, frightening folklore, and centuries of war and bloodshed have imparted an unsettling ambience in destinations like Edinburgh.
    Nicole Kliest, Vogue, 18 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • That driving tension and anxiety are largely thanks to the team of artisans, which included composer Volker Bertelmann, editor Kirk Baxter and sound designer Paul Ottosson, who worked closely behind the scenes on their respective crafts to bring it together.
    Jazz Tangcay, Variety, 25 Oct. 2025
  • That sense of anxiety is present throughout the book, most vividly in a wide shot of a group of cheerleaders rehearsing in a gym.
    Rachel Monroe, New Yorker, 25 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • The Cowboys’ defense is bad and Denver’s is good, but all the same, a long dry spell or a continuation of the penalty plague will not end well this weekend.
    Joe Nguyen, Denver Post, 26 Oct. 2025
  • Production stopped for five weeks, but that was only one plague.
    Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 24 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • The truth can be far more haunting than any scary story.
    Ryan Coleman, Entertainment Weekly, 22 Oct. 2025
  • The movie adaptation was terrifying, but the creepy atmospheric tension in the novel is even scarier.
    Brian Truitt, USA Today, 22 Oct. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Dread.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dread. Accessed 29 Oct. 2025.

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