dire
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈdaɪ̯ə(ɹ)/
rhymes: -aɪə(ɹ)
Forms: form: direr
form: more dire
form: direst
form: most dire
Etymology: Borrowed from Latin dīrus (“fearful, ominous”).
Senses: examples: text: dire omens
synonyms: word: foreboding
word: inauspicious
word: augurous
word: baleful
word: bodeful
word: boding
word: dire
word: disastrous
word: fatal
word: foreboding
word: ill-boding
word: ill-fated
word: ill-omened
word: ill-starred
word: inauspicate
word: inauspicious
word: nefastous
word: omenic
word: ominous
word: brooding
word: portentous
word: presageful
word: presagious
word: prodigious
word: sinister
word: star-crossed
word: sullen
glosses: Warning of bad consequences: ill-boding; portentous.
examples: text: dire need (of)
text: One of the hidden glories of Victorian engineering is proper drains.[…]But out of sight is out of mind. And that, together with the inherent yuckiness of the subject, means that many old sewers have been neglected and are in dire need of repair.
ref: 2014 June 14, “It's a gas”, in The Economist, volume 411, number 8891:
synonyms: word: acute
word: exigent
word: acute
word: bad
word: clamant
word: crying
word: dire
word: exigent
word: imperious
word: instant
word: rash
word: severe
word: pressing
word: pressive
word: urgent
glosses: Requiring action to prevent bad consequences: urgent, pressing.
examples: text: dire consequences;  to be in dire straits
text: Cristiana Paşca Palmer, the executive secretary of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, said the destruction of the world’s biggest rainforest was a grim reminder that a fresh approach needed to stabilise the climate and prevent ecosystems from declining to a point of no return, with dire consequences for humanity.
ref: 2019 August 30, Jonathan Watts, “Amazon fires show world heading for point of no return, says UN”, in The Guardian:
synonyms: word: bleak
word: gloomy
word: cheerless
word: comfortless
word: bleak
word: dark
word: depressing
word: desolate
word: dire
word: disconsolate
word: dismal
word: doleful
word: dolesome
word: drear
word: drearisome
word: dreary
word: dreich
word: forlorn
word: gayless
word: gray
word: gloomsome
word: gloomy
word: grim
word: joyless
word: lack-laughter
word: lugubrious
word: melancholy
word: mirthless
word: miserable
word: no joke
word: saturnine
word: solemn
word: somber
word: sombre
word: spiritless
word: sullen
word: sunless
word: uncheerful
word: uncheery
word: unhappy
word: unmerry
word: wintry
word: woeful
glosses: Expressing bad consequences: dreadful; dismal.
examples: text: His dire blunder allowed her to checkmate him with her next move.
text: A second Norwich goal in four minutes arrived after some dire Newcastle defending. Gosling gave the ball away with a sloppy back-pass, allowing Crofts to curl in a cross that the unmarked Morison powered in with a firm, 12-yard header.
ref: 2011 December 10, Arindam Rej, “Norwich 4-2 Newcastle”, in BBC Sport:
synonyms: word: foul
word: lousy
word: abysmal
word: awful
word: chronic
word: coarse
word: crap
word: crummy
word: dire
word: disagreeable
word: dismal
word: dreadful
word: foul
word: hideous
word: hopeless
word: horrendous
word: horrid
word: horrible
word: inadequate
word: incompetent
word: inelegant
word: intolerable
word: inferior
word: loathsome
word: lousy
word: miserable
word: naff
word: negative
word: odious
word: pathetic
word: peak
word: rotten
word: rubbish
word: shitawful
word: sloppy
word: terrible
word: unfavorable
glosses: Bad in quality, awful, terrible.
topics: fantasy
games
gaming
glosses: Ferocious and of intimidating appearance, like a dire wolf.
Derived terms: direful
direly
direness
dire sisters
diresome
dire straits
dire wolf
Related terms: voir dire