dread means to fear greatly. It carries an Arena rating of 1390, earned across 3 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, dread ranks #143 of 25,264 for Qualifying, #912 of 14,308 for Most Malleable Words, #3,867 of 14,297 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #4,083 of 14,322 for Scariest Words.
dread is pronounced /dɹɛd/.
Why “dread” is a great word
To anticipate with a profound, often paralyzing, apprehension of a future evil. From Middle English dreden, from Old English drǣdan ("to fear, dread"), an aphetic form of ondrǣdan, from Proto-West Germanic *andarādan, equivalent to Old English and- ("against") + rǣdan ("to advise, interpret"; whence "read"). Unlike "fear," a sharp response to immediate danger, or "awe," reverence tinged with wonder, dread is the slow, cold seep of certainty into the present. It is the taste of metal in the mouth before the verdict is read, the silence in the house after the telephone rings once and stops, the shadow that falls across the sunlit path not from a cloud but from a wing you have not yet seen lift into the sky—the soul’s foreknowledge of a story it has already read, and from which there is no turning the page.
Etymology
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”).
verb
- To fear greatly.
- To anticipate with fear.“I'm dreading getting the results of the test, as it could decide my whole life.”
- To be in dread, or great fear.“Dread not, neither be afraid of them.”
- To style (the hair) into dreadlocks.
noun
- Great fear in view of impending evil; fearful apprehension of danger; anticipatory terror.“My visit to the doctor is filling me with dread.”
- Reverential or respectful fear; awe.“The fear of you, and the dread of you, shall be upon every beast of the earth.”
- Somebody or something dreaded.
- A person highly revered.“Una, his dear dread”
- Fury; dreadfulness.“The mightie ones, affrayd of every chaunges dread”
- A Rastafarian.
adj
- Terrible; greatly feared; dreaded.“With cat-like tread / Upon our prey we steal / In silence dread / Our cautious way we feel”
- Awe-inspiring; held in fearful awe.“The acts made in the first Parliament of our most high and dread soveraigne Charles [I], by the grace of God, King of Great Britaine, France, and Ireland, defender of the faith, &c. […] [book title]”
Words closest in meaning
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