Hypertext Webster Gateway: "dire"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Dire \Dire\, a. [Compar. {Direr}; superl. {Direst}.] [L. dirus;
of uncertain origin.]
1. Ill-boding; portentous; as, dire omens.
2. Evil in great degree; dreadful; dismal; horrible;
terrible; lamentable.
Dire was the tossing, deep the groans. --Milton.
Gorgons and hydras and chimeras dire. --Milton.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
dire
adj 1: fraught with extreme danger; nearly hopeless; "a desperate
illness"; "on all fronts the Allies were in a
desperate situation due to lack of materiel"-
G.C.Marshall; "a dire emergency" [syn: {desperate}]
2: causing fear or dread or terror; "the awful war"; "an awful
risk"; "dire news"; "a career or vengeance so direful that
London was shocked"; "the dread presence of the
headmaster"; "polio is no longer the dreaded disease it
once was"; "a dreadful storm"; "a fearful howling";
"horrendous explosions shook the city"; "a terrible curse"
[syn: {awful}, {direful}, {dread(a)}, {dreaded}, {dreadful},
{fearful}, {fearsome}, {frightening}, {horrendous}, {horrific},
{terrible}]
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