Causing fear or dread or terror. Synonyms: awful, dire, direful, dread, dreaded, dreadful, fearful, fearsome, frightening, horrific, terrible. "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"
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