dread

Meaning

Verb

1. (transitive) To fear greatly.
2. To anticipate with fear.
3. (intransitive) To be in dread, or great fear.
4. (transitive) To style (the hair) into dreadlocks.

Noun

1. (countable, uncountable) Great fear in view of impending evil; fearful apprehension of danger; anticipatory terror.
2. (countable, uncountable) Reverential or respectful fear; awe.
3. (countable, uncountable) Somebody or something dreaded.
4. (countable, obsolete, uncountable) A person highly revered.
5. (countable, obsolete, uncountable) Fury; dreadfulness.
6. (countable, uncountable) A Rastafarian.
7. (abbreviation, alt-of, clipping, countable, in-plural, slang, uncountable) Clipping of dreadlock.
8. (abbreviation, alt-of, clipping, countable, historical, slang, uncountable) Clipping of dreadnought.

Adj

1. Terrible; greatly feared; dreaded.
2. (archaic) Awe-inspiring; held in fearful awe.

Synonyms

fear

😨

terror

fright

horror

be afraid

apprehension

awe

be afraid of

alarm

scare

😨

dreadful

dreaded

apprehend

dismay

terrible

be scared

anxiety

consternation

awful

panic

fearsome

tremble

shrink from

be frightened

direful

funk

horrendous

worry

fearful

😨

horrible

horrific

wonder at

afraid of

afraid

trembling

trepidation

be fearful

shirk

grisly

dire

god-awful

phobia

anguish

misgiving

reverence

frightening

frighten

apprehensiveness

be anxious

apphrehend

Translations

Furcht

😨

timore

😨

Angst

😨

peur

😨

miedo

😨

temor

😨

redouter

craindre

😨

vrees

😨

terreur

paura

😨

φόβος

temere

😨

angst

😨

Pronounced as (IPA)

/dɹɛd/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: dreden

Inherited from Old English: drǣdan

Cognate with Old Saxon: antdrādan

Cognate with Old High German: intrātan

Cognate with Middle High German: entrāten

Inherited from Middle English: drede

Cognate with Old Frisian: drēd

In summary

From Middle English dreden, from Old English drǣdan (“to fear, dread”), aphetic form of ondrǣdan (“to fear, dread”), from Proto-West Germanic *andarādan, equivalent to Old English and- + rǣdan (whence read); corresponding to an aphesis of earlier adread.
Akin to Old Saxon antdrādan, andrādan (“to fear, dread”), Old High German intrātan (“to fear”), Middle High German entrāten (“to fear, dread, frighten”).