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Definition of Dread
1. Adjective. Causing fear or dread or terror. "A terrible curse"
Similar to: Alarming
Derivative terms: Awfulness, Terribleness
2. Verb. Be afraid or scared of; be frightened of. "Sam cannot dread Sue "; "We should not fear the Communists!"
3. Noun. Fearful expectation or anticipation. "The student looked around the examination room with apprehension"
Generic synonyms: Fear, Fearfulness, Fright
Specialized synonyms: Trepidation, Boding, Foreboding, Premonition, Presentiment, Suspense, Gloom, Gloominess, Somberness, Sombreness, Chill, Pall
Derivative terms: Apprehend, Apprehensive, Apprehensive
Definition of Dread
1. v. t. To fear in a great degree; to regard, or look forward to, with terrific apprehension.
2. v. i. To be in dread, or great fear.
3. n. Great fear in view of impending evil; fearful apprehension of danger; anticipatory terror.
4. a. Exciting great fear or apprehension; causing terror; frightful; dreadful.
Definition of Dread
1. Verb. To fear greatly. ¹
2. Verb. To anticipate with fear. ¹
3. Noun. A great fear. ¹
4. Noun. Somebody or something dreaded. ¹
5. Noun. A Rastafarian. ¹
6. Noun. (mostly plural) dreadlock ¹
7. Adjective. Terrible; greatly feared. ¹
8. Adjective. (archaic) Awe-inspiring; held in fearful awe. ¹
¹ Source: wiktionary.com
Definition of Dread
1. to fear greatly [v -ED, -ING, -S]
Lexicographical Neighbors of Dread
Literary usage of Dread
Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:
1. The Iliad of Homer by Homer, John Graham Cordery (1871)
"... So crouch'd the Trojans, cowering 'neath the bluffs 30 Of that dread River,
mingled with his stream. But when his arm was weary of their deaths, ..."
2. The American Journal of Psychology by Granville Stanley Hall, Edward Bradford Titchener (1903)
"I used to feel from the time I was about five until I was ten a dread of night
... When I was a small child I had a great dread of dark especially if away ..."
3. Macbeth by William Shakespeare, William George Clark, William Aldis Wright (1878)
"... my dread exploits : The flighty purpose never is o'ertook Unless the deed go
with it: from this moment The very firstlings of my heart shall be The ..."
4. My Bondage and My Freedom by Frederick Douglass (1855)
"The fact is, such was ray dread of leaving the little cabin, that I wished to
remain little forever, for I knew the taller I grew the shorter my stay. ..."