1
as in terrifying
causing fear
a dreadful hurricane
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in awful
causing intense displeasure, disgust, or resentment
a dreadful performance of a beautiful piece of music
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3
as in horrific
extremely disturbing or repellent
dreadful news of a crime wave in the neighborhood
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4
as in intense
extreme in degree, power, or effect
the dreadful heat of the desert
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5
as in sheer
having no exceptions or restrictions
made a dreadful mess of his first marriage
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of dreadful
The Chiefs lost 20-10 Sunday night and quarterback Patrick Mahomes had a dreadful night.
—
Pete Grathoff, Kansas City Star, 10 Dec. 2025
In 1986, Mexican President Miguel de la Madrid was widely booed during the inauguration of the World Cup at Azteca Stadium in Mexico City due to his government’s dreadful response to the 1985 earthquake in the city.
—Gabriel Sama, Mercury News, 5 Dec. 2025
The Los Angeles Clippers are off to a dreadful start to the 2025-26 NBA season, sitting at just 5-16 overall and recording only two wins in November.
—Cole Sullivan, MSNBC Newsweek, 3 Dec. 2025
Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel made no apologies for a too-close-for-comfort 21-17 win against a dreadful Saints team on Sunday, a game in which Miami nearly squandered a 16-0 lead before a key late stop.
—Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 30 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for dreadful
Pete Grathoff, Kansas City Star, 10 Dec. 2025
In 1986, Mexican President Miguel de la Madrid was widely booed during the inauguration of the World Cup at Azteca Stadium in Mexico City due to his government’s dreadful response to the 1985 earthquake in the city.
—Gabriel Sama, Mercury News, 5 Dec. 2025
The Los Angeles Clippers are off to a dreadful start to the 2025-26 NBA season, sitting at just 5-16 overall and recording only two wins in November.
—Cole Sullivan, MSNBC Newsweek, 3 Dec. 2025
Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel made no apologies for a too-close-for-comfort 21-17 win against a dreadful Saints team on Sunday, a game in which Miami nearly squandered a 16-0 lead before a key late stop.
—Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 30 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for dreadful
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dreadful
Adjective
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Humans could suddenly step into a box, perhaps hear gears grind, and then exit the box on a different floor—and even as safety features were innovated, that was terrifying.—
Jason Corso,
Fortune,
6 Jan. 2026
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Madigan's character, the elderly aunt of several of the students, became a cult favorite, both terrifying and delighting audiences.—
Anna Kaufman,
USA Today,
5 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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The Hoosiers, of course, are the prime example of a longtime awful football program rising to the top.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
8 Jan. 2026
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Mamdani hasn’t had time yet to flesh out his awful, socialist ideas into real policies that adversely affect New Yorkers.—
Nicole Russell,
USA Today,
8 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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Wednesday afternoon, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani called the shooting horrific.—
Ali Bauman,
CBS News,
8 Jan. 2026
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From a horrific account of an asteroid hitting Earth to an evil AI computer capable of designing deadly activities, readers will face the dark and mysterious corners of the human experience.—
Jessica Tzikas,
Sun Sentinel,
8 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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Fan Kelly Terzis described her feelings as intense sadness and grief, but also gratitude.—
Amanda Hari,
CBS News,
11 Jan. 2026
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The study made a significant contribution, if not clarification, to this academic niche — medieval migration wasn’t seasonal, nor sporadic and intense.—
Maria Mocerino,
Interesting Engineering,
11 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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The Rhode founder stunned in a sheer black mesh teddy with a G-string thong design and an ab-baring cutout made out of straps.—
Lara Walsh,
InStyle,
7 Jan. 2026
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But the department has argued the sheer volume of documents that need to be found, uploaded, reviewed, redacted and published has forced it to instead release the files online on a rolling basis, with a series of enormous document dumps over the course of several days in mid-December.—
Joe Walsh,
CBS News,
6 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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Are there horrible smells wafting around?—
Clio Chang,
Curbed,
7 Jan. 2026
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Jimmy Kimmel was horrible, and some of these people.—
Greg Evans,
Deadline,
6 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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Not because the moms themselves are toxic people, but because the dynamic shifts into an ugly place with mean-girl behavior.—
Madison E. Goldberg,
PEOPLE,
7 Jan. 2026
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Sure, coach Mike Tomlin's teams tend to win ugly games, but not in the playoffs — at least not lately.—
Austin Mock,
New York Times,
7 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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Von had been Trump-friendly before the gruesome and heartbreaking videos of the ICE raids targeting working immigrants started going viral on social media.—
Armando Tinoco,
Deadline,
7 Nov. 2025
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Daniels suffered his gruesome non-throwing-arm injury during the fourth quarter of Week 9's blowout loss to the Seahawks.—
Matt Audilet,
MSNBC Newsweek,
5 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Dreadful.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dreadful. Accessed 11 Jan. 2026.
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