See Also: Dreadful(medicine)
dreadful(dictionary)
dreadful(dictionary)

dreadful (iou)



dreadful adjective, adverb, & noun. ME.
[from DREAD noun + -FUL.]
A. adjective.
Full of dread; terrified; awed. ME-M17.
Inspiring dread or awe; formidable; terrible. ME.
H. James He was haunted..with dreadful visions of what might have befallen her.
Exceedingly bad, long, or boring; troublesome, disagreeable, horrid. colloq. E18.
G. Vidal The acoustics of the Odeon are dreadful.
b. adverb. Dreadfully. Now non-standard. L17.
C. noun. A story in a crudely sensational style; a cheap book or magazine of such stories. L19.
penny dreadful: see PENNY adjective.
dreadfully adverb (a) with fear or awe; (b) terribly, fearfully; colloq. exceedingly: ME.
dreadfulness noun (a) the state of having fear or dread; (b) the quality of being dreadful or fearsome: LME.