dread
/dred/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
Noun:
- Fearful anticipation or apprehension: A strong feeling of fear or anxiety about something that is going to happen or might happen.
Verb:
- To fear greatly; to anticipate with terror or anxiety: To be very afraid of something, especially a future event.
Adjective:
- Causing great fear or terror; dreadful: Inspiring awe or terror.
Usage Examples
Noun:
- She lives in constant dread of her boss's anger.
- A feeling of dread filled the room as the storm approached.
Verb:
- I dread the thought of having to give a public speech.
- Many people dread going to the dentist.
Adjective (less common, often literary/formal):
- The dread power of the ancient king was legendary.
- They faced the dread enemy with courage.
Advanced Usage
"To be in dread of": To be very frightened of someone or something.
- The villagers lived in dread of the dragon.
"To hold someone/something in dread": To regard someone or something with great fear.
- The tyrant was held in dread by his subjects.
Variants and Related Words
- Dreadful (adj): Extremely bad, unpleasant, or causing fear.
- We heard a dreadful noise.
- Dreadfully (adv): Extremely; terribly.
- I'm dreadfully sorry for the mistake.
- Dreaded (adj): Regarded with great fear or apprehension.
- The dreaded day of the final exam arrived.
Synonyms
- Noun: Fear, terror, apprehension, trepidation, anxiety.
- Verb: Fear, apprehend, be terrified of.
- Adjective: Fearful, terrible, awful, dire, dreadful.
Related Phrasal Verbs/Constructions
(Note: "Dread" is not commonly used in standard phrasal verb constructions. Its usage is typically direct: "dread + noun/gerund" or "dread + that clause".) - Dread to think (idiomatic phrase): Used to say that one does not want to think about something because it is too unpleasant. - I dread to think what might have happened if you hadn't arrived.
Related Idioms
- Dread the worst: To fear that the worst possible thing will happen.
- When the phone rang at 3 a.m., she dreaded the worst.
Adjective
- causing fear or dread or terror
- 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
Noun
- fearful expectation or anticipation
- the student looked around the examination room with apprehension
Verb
- be afraid or scared of; be frightened of
- I fear the winters in Moscow
- We should not fear the Communists!