as in terrors
something or someone that causes fear or dread especially without reason
speaking in public is a perennial dread for many people
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Recent Examples of dreads
David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 27 Aug. 2025
Noun
Other introspective angles are explored during Mariano’s audiences with his friend the Pope (Rufin Doh Zeyenouin), a serene Black man with a head crowned by a bundle of silver dreads, who tools around the Vatican on a motorbike.
—David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 27 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dreads
Noun
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As with many of A24's horror movies, we're left to ponder whether anything supernatural happens as Maud's quest reaches its apotheosis, proving that fanatical belief is enough to inspire great terrors.—
Dennis Perkins,
Entertainment Weekly,
31 Oct. 2025
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The internet gives us more opportunity to be exposed to noteworthy terrors from other countries.—
Brian Truitt,
USA Today,
21 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Still, an ongoing government shutdown — and fears that this may hinder a December rate cut — loom in the background.—
Lisa Kailai Han,
CNBC,
4 Nov. 2025
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According to Kwei, even their father fears the creature.—
Sergio Pereira,
Space.com,
4 Nov. 2025
Noun
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The 40th release, however, marks the first time the brand has ever released a tequila—an extra añejo blend put together by a leading name in the agave spirits industry.—
Jonah Flicker,
Robb Report,
5 Nov. 2025
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Cushla’s world is full of defiant spirits, including her mother, a woman struggling with addiction who spends most of her days bound to her living room and the bottom of a bottle.—
Max Goldbart,
Deadline,
5 Nov. 2025
Noun
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Sure, to be entirely historically accurate, negative things like plagues, beheadings and poverty would likely factor in to the villagers’ lives.—
Kate Bradshaw,
Mercury News,
25 Sep. 2025
Noun
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The source of a zombie outbreak can come from anywhere, including ancient curses and meteorites from space.—
PC Magazine,
PC Magazine,
17 Oct. 2025
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That mindset leads to no shortage of delightfully blasé supernatural adventures rife with magic and curses.—
Abby Monteil,
Them.,
15 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Scream With Me expands on this argument with its analysis of The Exorcist, a movie that Johnson interprets as a parable about physical abuse; its male demon torments and beats a single working mother and her child.—
Sophie Gilbert,
The Atlantic,
30 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Dreads.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dreads. Accessed 7 Nov. 2025.
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