Definition

1. Noun:

   • Fearful anticipation or apprehension: A strong feeling of fear or anxiety about something that is going to happen or might happen.

2. Verb:

   • To fear greatly; to anticipate with terror or anxiety: To be very afraid of something, especially a future event.

3. 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

1. 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

1. fearful expectation or anticipation
   • the student looked around the examination room with apprehension

Verb

1. be afraid or scared of; be frightened of
   • I fear the winters in Moscow
   • We should not fear the Communists!