1
as in terrifying
causing fear
a dreadful hurricane
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in awful
causing intense displeasure, disgust, or resentment
a dreadful performance of a beautiful piece of music
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in horrific
extremely disturbing or repellent
dreadful news of a crime wave in the neighborhood
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
4
as in intense
extreme in degree, power, or effect
the dreadful heat of the desert
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
5
as in sheer
having no exceptions or restrictions
made a dreadful mess of his first marriage
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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 dreadful
And this speaks to the heart of the U.K.’s problem: the dreadful productivity record of its public sector and particularly the NHS.
—
Ian King, CNBC, 11 June 2025
There were plenty in the City Ground stands for the broadly dreadful 3-1 defeat to Senegal on Tuesday that would have agreed with him there.
—Nick Miller, New York Times, 11 June 2025
Boston also benefitted from a fantastic bounce back performance by starting pitcher Lucas Giolito, as well as a towering solo home run by shortstop Trevor Story, who is continuing to trend up after a dreadful month of May.
—Mac Cerullo, Hartford Courant, 11 June 2025
The coroner recorded Kraus’s death as misadventure, or an accident, describing the incident as a dreadful experience for the family.
—Greg Wehner, FOXNews.com, 10 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for dreadful
Ian King, CNBC, 11 June 2025
There were plenty in the City Ground stands for the broadly dreadful 3-1 defeat to Senegal on Tuesday that would have agreed with him there.
—Nick Miller, New York Times, 11 June 2025
Boston also benefitted from a fantastic bounce back performance by starting pitcher Lucas Giolito, as well as a towering solo home run by shortstop Trevor Story, who is continuing to trend up after a dreadful month of May.
—Mac Cerullo, Hartford Courant, 11 June 2025
The coroner recorded Kraus’s death as misadventure, or an accident, describing the incident as a dreadful experience for the family.
—Greg Wehner, FOXNews.com, 10 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for dreadful
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dreadful
Adjective
-
The terrifying moment that passengers were made to put on oxygen masks was captured on video.—
Latoya Gayle,
People.com,
1 July 2025
-
When the body of a young man is found eerily staged in the idyllic Scottish wilderness, detective Monica Kennedy fears this is just the beginning of a terrifying campaign that will strike the heart of a rural community.—
Lily Ford,
HollywoodReporter,
1 July 2025
Adjective
-
This has been an awful process—a frantic rush to meet an artificial deadline that has tested every limit of this institution.—
Aliss Higham,
MSNBC Newsweek,
7 July 2025
-
However, the idea that Gunn was going to make an awful Superman movie does not match up with his history of comic book productions across Marvel and DC.—
Paul Tassi,
Forbes.com,
7 July 2025
Adjective
-
Throughout the Holocaust, the Nazis concentrated European Jews in urban ghettos, which were marked by horrific living conditions, forced labor and the threat of execution.—
Tom Dreisbach,
NPR,
30 June 2025
-
And that's a tough sell to a jury that spent weeks listening to horrific testimony about Diddy and his empire.—
Lauryn Overhultz,
FOXNews.com,
29 June 2025
Adjective
-
Early Friday morning, intense rain caused flash flooding across Texas Hill Country.—
Rebecca Angel Baer,
Southern Living,
6 July 2025
-
There were several safety cars during the race, along with changing conditions with periods of intense rain followed by a drying track.—
Nelson Espinal,
MSNBC Newsweek,
6 July 2025
Adjective
-
Some may prove useful in the long run and others illusory, but for now they are statistically swamped by the sheer amount of renewable power coming online.—
Bill McKibben,
New Yorker,
9 July 2025
-
The sheer variety of equipment, the pace of change and rising customer demands call for something better: a knowledge capture process that’s baked into the daily workflow.—
Thomas Cottereau,
Forbes.com,
9 July 2025
Adjective
-
To be able to say that so many writers have been meaningful to you is not a horrible thing.—
John Warner,
Chicago Tribune,
28 June 2025
-
If Flagg develops into the human triple double who leads the team to the Western Conference Finals and NBA Finals in his first six years, the trade can be called not a horrible deal.—
Mac Engel,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
26 June 2025
Adjective
-
The wild and ugly scenes saw rioters attack law enforcement with rocks and Molotov cocktails while others burned vehicles and other property.—
Michael Dorgan,
FOXNews.com,
28 June 2025
-
The pair hit an ugly double-spinebuster on the Arabic announce table.—
Alfred Konuwa,
Forbes.com,
28 June 2025
Adjective
-
Accounts of government and police repression have only gotten more gruesome, with Amnesty Kenya reporting that 16 people have been shot and killed as of June 28 and local officials claiming that hundreds have been injured (while also alleging that most of those hurt were police officers).—
Mankaprr Conteh,
Rolling Stone,
30 June 2025
-
Forget turning on some gruesome horror movie: reading the daily headlines is enough to make just about anyone scream.—
Christian Allaire,
Vogue,
26 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Dreadful.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dreadful. Accessed 12 Jul. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share