What is the meaning of dire?

Fraught with extreme danger; nearly hopeless.
- usage: "a desperate illness"; "on all fronts the Allies were in a desperate situation due to lack of materiel- G. C. Marshall; "a dire emergency"
- synonyms: desperate
Causing fear or dread or terror.
- usage: "the awful war"; "an awful risk"; "dire news"; "a career or vengeance so direful that London was shocked"; "the dread presence of the headmaster"; "polio is no longer the dreaded disease it once was"; "a dreadful storm"; "a fearful howling"; "horrendous explosions shook the city"; "a terrible curse"
- synonyms: awful, direful, dread, dreaded, dreadful, fearful, fearsome, frightening, horrendous, horrific, terrible

|15 years ago|1.4k views|share |citing

APA	WordNet. (2010). dire. Retrieved September 22, 2026, from http://smartdefine.org/dire/definitions/1172480
Chicago	WordNet. 2010. "dire" http://smartdefine.org/dire/definitions/1172480 (accessed September 22, 2026).
Harvard	WordNet 2010, dire, Smart Define, viewed 22 September, 2026, <http://smartdefine.org/dire/definitions/1172480>.
MLA	WordNet. "dire" 23 October 2010. Web. 22 September 2026. <http://smartdefine.org/dire/definitions/1172480>

Alternative definitions by