Synonyms for dire
daɪərdire

English Synonyms and AntonymsRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. dire

   Awful should not be used of things which are merely disagreeable or annoying, nor of all that are alarming and terrible, but only of such as bring a solemn awe upon the soul, as in the presence of a superior power; as, the awful hush before the battle. That which is awful arouses an oppressive, that which is august an admiring reverence; we speak of the august presence of a mighty monarch, the awful presence of death. We speak of an exalted station, a grand mountain, an imposing presence, a majestic cathedral, a noble mien, a solemn litany, a stately march, an august assembly, the awful scene of the Judgment Day.

   Synonyms:
   alarming, appalling, august, awful, direful, dread, dreadful, fearful, frightful, grand, horrible, imposing, majestic, noble, portentous, shocking, solemn, stately, terrible, terrific

   Antonyms:
   base, beggarly, commonplace, contemptible, despicable, humble, inferior, lowly, mean, paltry, undignified, vulgar

Princeton's WordNetRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. desperate, direadjective

   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"

   Synonyms:
   dread(a), fearful, dreaded, terrible, do-or-die(a), horrendous, fearsome, horrific, heroic, desperate, awful, frightening, despairing, direful, dreadful

   Antonyms:
   unalarming, noncritical, noncrucial

2. awful, dire, direful, dread(a), dreaded, dreadful, fearful, fearsome, frightening, horrendous, horrific, terribleadjective

   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"

   Antonyms:
   noncrucial, noncritical, unalarming

Dictionary of English SynonymesRate these synonyms:1.0 / 1 vote

1. direadjective

   Synonyms:
   dreadful, fearful, direful, shocking, terrible, horrid, horrible, awful, terrific, tremendous

PPDB, the paraphrase databaseRate these paraphrases:0.0 / 0 votes

1. List of paraphrases for "dire":

   terrible, disastrous, desperate, appalling, serious, calamitous, dreadful, tragic, catastrophic, extreme, horrific, horrendous, horrible, difficult, severe, grave, awful, painful, dramatic, grim, pressing, hopeless, urgent, baleful, bleak, devastating

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How to use dire in a sentence?

1. Jay Sekulow:

   You've now heard from legal scholars from a variety of schools of thought, from a variety of political backgrounds, but they do have a common theme with a dire warning -- danger, danger, danger, these articles must be rejected.

2. Doug Ford:

   If these basic measures continue to be ignored, the consequences will be more dire. The shutdown won't end at the end of January and we will have to look at more extreme measures.

3. Susana Malcorra:

   The dire situation is growing worse, we are expecting dangerous flooding and drought.

4. Willem Buiter:

   The situation is dire. It requires the central bank to use its full expansionary toolkit to support the fiscal stimulus that the government is providing, they (central bankers) should just let go and buy both short- and long-term bonds ... and be ready to cover the government deficit this year.

5. Franz Rauchenstein:

   I wouldn't talk about famine for the time-being, that is not yet the case. But we could well go into a situation where the situation becomes more dire especially in the next three to four months.