Dire — meaning, pronunciation & more

Definition

fraught with extreme danger; nearly hopeless; ; - G.C.Marshall

causing fear or dread or terror

Pronunciation

🇺🇸American English

/dˈɔːɹsi/

🇬🇧British English

/dˈaɪə/

🇮🇳Indian English

/dˈaɪə/

1 syllable Say it as /dˈɔːɹsi/.

Examples

a desperate illness
on all fronts the Allies were in a desperate situation due to lack of materiel
a dire emergency

Synonyms & Antonyms

Synonyms

horrendous frightening fearsome dreaded dreadful fearful horrific dread awful desperate terrible direful

Parts of Speech

adjective	fraught with extreme danger; nearly hopeless; ; - G.C.Marshall “a desperate illness”
adjective	causing fear or dread or terror “the awful war”

Word Forms

awfulness	noun	a quality of extreme unpleasantness
dread	noun	fearful expectation or anticipation
terribleness	noun	a quality of extreme unpleasantness

Around the World

Europe

🇩🇪German

schrecklich

mit extremer Gefahr behaftet; fast hoffnungslos; ; - G. C. Marshall

🇫🇷French

terrible

plein de dangers extrêmes; presque désespéré; ; - G.C. Marshall

🇪🇸Spanish

terrible

plagado de peligros extremos; casi desesperado; ; - G.C.Marshall

🇮🇹Italian

terribile

irto di pericolo estremo; quasi senza speranza; ; - G.C.Marshall

🇳🇱Dutch

verschrikkelijk

vol met extreem gevaar; bijna hopeloos; ; - G.C.Marshall

🇵🇹Portuguese

terrível

repleto de perigo extremo; quase sem esperança; ; - G. C. Marshall

🇷🇺Russian

ужасный

чревато крайней опасностью; почти безнадежен; ; - Г.К.Маршалл

India

🇮🇳Hindi

भयानक

अत्यधिक खतरे से भरा हुआ; लगभग निराशाजनक; ; - जी.सी.मार्शल

🇧🇩Bengali

মারাত্মক

চরম বিপদে পরিপূর্ণ; প্রায় আশাহীন; ; - জি সি মার্শাল

🇮🇳Tamil

பயங்கரமான

தீவிர ஆபத்து நிறைந்தது; கிட்டத்தட்ட நம்பிக்கையற்றது; ; - ஜி.சி.மார்ஷல்

🇮🇳Telugu

భయంకరమైన

తీవ్రమైన ప్రమాదంతో నిండిపోయింది; దాదాపు నిస్సహాయ; ; - జి.సి.మార్షల్

🇮🇳Marathi

भयंकर

अत्यंत धोक्याने भरलेले; जवळजवळ हताश; ; - जी.सी.मार्शल

🇮🇳Gujarati

ભયંકર

ભારે ભયથી ભરપૂર; લગભગ નિરાશાજનક; ; - જી.સી.માર્શલ

🇮🇳Kannada

ಭೀಕರ

ತೀವ್ರ ಅಪಾಯದಿಂದ ತುಂಬಿದೆ; ಬಹುತೇಕ ಹತಾಶ; ; - ಜಿ.ಸಿ.ಮಾರ್ಷಲ್

🇮🇳Malayalam

ദാരുണമായ

അങ്ങേയറ്റം അപകടം നിറഞ്ഞതാണ്; ഏതാണ്ട് നിരാശ; ; - ജി.സി.മാർഷൽ

🇮🇳Punjabi

ਗੰਭੀਰ

ਬਹੁਤ ਖ਼ਤਰੇ ਨਾਲ ਭਰਪੂਰ; ਲਗਭਗ ਨਿਰਾਸ਼; ; - ਜੀ.ਸੀ.ਮਾਰਸ਼ਲ

🇵🇰Urdu

سنگین

انتہائی خطرے سے بھرا ہوا؛ تقریبا نا امید؛ ; - G.C.Marshall

East & Southeast Asia

🇨🇳Chinese

可怕的

充满极度危险；几乎绝望； ; ——G·C·马歇尔

🇯🇵Japanese

悲惨な

極度の危険を伴う。ほとんど絶望的です。 ; - G.C.マーシャル

🇰🇷Korean

무서운

극도의 위험으로 가득 차 있습니다. 거의 절망적이다. ; - G.C. 마샬

🇻🇳Vietnamese

thảm khốc

đầy nguy hiểm tột độ; gần như vô vọng; ; - G.C.Marshall

🇹🇭Thai

เลวร้าย

เต็มไปด้วยอันตรายร้ายแรง เกือบจะสิ้นหวัง ; - จี.ซี.มาร์แชล

🇮🇩Indonesian

mengerikan

penuh dengan bahaya ekstrim; hampir putus asa; ; - GC Marshall

🇵🇭Filipino

grabe

puno ng matinding panganib; halos walang pag-asa; ; - G.C. Marshall

🇲🇾Malay

teruk

penuh dengan bahaya yang melampau; hampir tiada harapan; ; - G.C. Marshall

Middle East

🇸🇦Arabic

رهيب

محفوفة بالمخاطر الشديدة؛ ميؤوس منها تقريبا. ; - جي سي مارشال

🇮🇷Persian

وحشتناک

مملو از خطر شدید؛ تقریباً ناامید کننده؛ ; - جی سی مارشال

🇹🇷Turkish

korkunç

aşırı tehlikelerle dolu; neredeyse umutsuz; ; - G.C. Marshall

🇮🇱Hebrew

נוֹרָא

טומן בחובו סכנה קיצונית; כמעט חסר תקווה; ; - ג'י סי מרשל

Test Yourself1 / 3

What is the primary definition of the word 'dire'?

The primary meaning of 'dire' is 'fraught with extreme danger; nearly hopeless; ; - G.C.Marshall'.

Which of the following sentences uses the word 'dire' in a grammatically correct way?

Using 'dire' in a noun/adjective form makes the first sentence correct.

In which domain is the word 'dire' most likely to appear as standard vocabulary?

'dire' is a standard word used primarily in general literature and formal communications.

Community Poll1 / 6

How often do you encounter the word 'dire' in your daily reading?

Very Often

Occasionally

Rarely

Never

Do you find 'dire' easy to spell?

Yes, very easy

Somewhat easy

A bit confusing

Extremely hard

In your opinion, does the word 'dire' have a positive, neutral, or gloomy tone?

Positive

Neutral

Gloomy

Vibrant

Which age group is most likely to use 'dire' in regular conversations?

Kids (3-12)

Teens (13-19)

Adults (20-60)

Seniors (60+)

How likely are you to use 'dire' in a professional email?

Very likely

Somewhat likely

Not very likely

Never

Would you classify 'dire' as formal, casual, or slang?

Formal

Casual

Slang

Archaic

Pick an option to see how others voted