Home Synonyms dire

Synonyms of dire in English:

dire


See US English definition of dire

See UK English definition of dire

See Spanish definition of funesto

adjective

1‘the dire economic situation’

SYNONYMS
terrible, dreadful, appalling, frightful, awful, horrible, atrocious, grim, unspeakable, distressing, harrowing, alarming, shocking, outrageous
grave, serious, grievous, disastrous, ruinous, calamitous, catastrophic, cataclysmic, devastating, crippling
miserable, wretched, woeful
hopeless, irretrievable
informal lousy, chronic
literary direful
archaic, humorous parlous
ANTONYMS

good

2‘he was in dire need of help’

SYNONYMS
urgent, desperate, pressing, crying, sore, grave, serious, extreme, acute, drastic
critical, crucial, vital
ANTONYMS

mild

3‘dire warnings of fuel shortages’

SYNONYMS
ominous, portentous, gloomy, doom and gloom, sinister
grim, dreadful, dismal
unpropitious, inauspicious, unfavourable, pessimistic
ANTONYMS

encouraging