different between amazing vs dreadful

English

Etymology

amaze +? -ing, from Old English ?masian.

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) enPR: ?-m?'z?ng, IPA^(key): /??me?z??/, [??me??z??]
• Rhymes: -e?z??

Verb

amazing

1. present participle of amaze
   • 1848, John Bunyan and Robert Philip, The Greatness of the Soul: And the Unspeakableness of the Loss Thereof, page 29, T. Nelson

     How many things have men found out to the amazing of one another, to the wonderment of one another, to the begetting of endless commendations of one another in the world

   • 1909, John Fryer and William Crooke, A New Account of East India and Persia: Being Nine Years' Travels, 1672-1681, page 92, Hakluyt Society

     Fancies to be persuaded of the confused Articulation of Multitudes met as in a Fair, conversing and making a chattering, to the amazing of them all.

   • 1996 August 5, Tim Behrendsen, "Tim Behrendsen Lost and Spaced THE FINAL TRY", rec.games.computer.quake.misc, Usenet

     Amazing is judged relative what already exists, and Quake has the best underwater effects so far.

   • 1997 November 30, Sir Frederick, "Pro-Mormons are amazing also", alt.religion.mormon.fellowship, Usenet

     Reality, especially God's Reality is amazing. For instance that there is something rather than nothing is amazing. [...] Amazing is amazing.

   • 1999 July 13, Irma Dobkin and Mary Jo Peterson, Gracious Spaces, page xix, McGraw-Hill Professional

     The amazing is happening.

   • 2000 March 24, "Shadow", "Return of the Fulgore Rant!", alt.fan.dragons, Usenet

     All that is impossibly amazing is considered nothing, and the impossibly amazing is considered normal.

   • 2001 February 3, Brian, "D3 weird FPS", alt.games.descent Usenet

     The amazing is that, in EXACTLY the same situation, the demo2 doesn't show this problem.

   • 2003 June 23, Thomas Bernhard, Three Novellas, page 31, University of Chicago Press

     Everything that amazes has its method, until we notice that the amazing is not amazing, has no method.

   • 2004 October 23, MgClearwater, "George says: Joe and Brian stay..", alt.sports.baseball.ny-yankees, Usenet

     Sheffield is an amazing athlete, how much of the amazing is provided from the Chemlab.

   • 2006 May 16, Simon Baird, "monkeyGTD is amazing- a few questions and suggestions", GTD TiddlyWiki, Google goups

     Cool! Of course 99% of the amazing is due to the "powered by TiddlyWiki" part of MonkeyGTD.. :)

Adjective

amazing (comparative more amazing, superlative most amazing)

1. Causing wonder and amazement; very surprising.
2. Possessing uniquely wonderful qualities.
   • 2014, November 8, Nick McCarvel, "Wozniacki's marathon debut was amazing, Djokovic says", USA TODAY Sports

     "Running a marathon is definitely an amazing experience."

3. Very good.
   • 2014, November 6, WAAY-TV (Huntsville, AL), VIDEO: "Sitting next to him was amazing" says student of General Via

     "I think it was pretty amazing that he picked our school out of a lot of schools to come speak to us about what he has done, and what our country has done, to help us gain our freedom," Mucci said, “sitting next to him was amazing.”

   • 2015, June 10, Lindsey Bever, "Morning Mix: Another reason seeing-eye dogs are amazing"[1]

Synonyms

• See Thesaurus:awesome

Derived terms

• amazingly
• amazingness

Related terms

• amazement

Translations

References

• amazing at OneLook Dictionary Search
• amazing in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• amazing in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

English

Alternative forms

• dreadfull
• dredful (obsolete)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?d??d.f?l/

Etymology

From Middle English dredful, dredfull, dredeful (also dreful), equivalent to dread +? -ful.

Adjective

dreadful (comparative more dreadful, superlative most dreadful)

1. Full of something causing dread, whether
   1. Genuinely horrific, awful, or alarming; dangerous, risky.
      • 1900, L. Frank Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Chapter 23:

        "...Aunt Em will surely think something dreadful has happened to me, and that will make her put on mourning..."

   2. (hyperbolic) Unpleasant, awful, very bad (also used as an intensifier).
      • 1682, T. Creech's translation of Lucretius, De Natura Rerum, Book II, 52:

        Here some... Look dreadful gay in their own sparkling blood.
   3. (obsolete) Awesome, awe-inspiring, causing feelings of reverence.
2. (obsolete) Full of dread, whether
   1. Scared, afraid, frightened.
   2. Timid, easily frightened.
   3. Reverential, full of pious awe.

Adverb

dreadful (comparative more dreadful, superlative most dreadful)

1. (informal) Dreadfully.

Usage notes

The senses of "dreadful" synonymous with "afraid" similarly use the infinitive or the preposition "of": they were dreadful to build or the boy was dreadful of his majesty. These senses are, however, now obsolete.

When used as an intensifier, "dreadful" is actually a form of the adverb "dreadfully" and thus considered informal or vulgar.

Synonyms

• See Thesaurus:frightening
• See Thesaurus:bad

Derived terms

• dreadfully
• dreadfulness

Translations

Noun

dreadful (plural dreadfuls)

1. A shocker: a report of a crime written in a provokingly lurid style.
2. A journal or broadsheet printing such reports.
3. A shocking or sensational crime.

Derived terms

• penny dreadful

Further reading

• Oxford English Dictionary, 1884–1928, and First Supplement, 1933.