different between dreadful vs macabre
dreadful
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)
- Full of something causing dread, whether
- 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..."
- 1900, L. Frank Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Chapter 23:
- (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.
- 1682, T. Creech's translation of Lucretius, De Natura Rerum, Book II, 52:
- (obsolete) Awesome, awe-inspiring, causing feelings of reverence.
- Genuinely horrific, awful, or alarming; dangerous, risky.
- (obsolete) Full of dread, whether
- Scared, afraid, frightened.
- Timid, easily frightened.
- Reverential, full of pious awe.
Adverb
dreadful (comparative more dreadful, superlative most dreadful)
- (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)
- A shocker: a report of a crime written in a provokingly lurid style.
- A journal or broadsheet printing such reports.
- A shocking or sensational crime.
Derived terms
- penny dreadful
Further reading
- Oxford English Dictionary, 1884–1928, and First Supplement, 1933.
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macabre
English
Etymology
Borrowed from French macabre, whose etymology is uncertain, but possibly derives from the term danse macabre – the attribute of which was construed as an adjective – most commonly believed to be from corruption of the biblical name Maccabees; compare Latin Chorea Machabaeorum.
Another theory derives the term from Spanish macabro, from Arabic ????????? (maq?bir, “cemeteries”), plural of ?????????? (maqbara) or ?????????? (maqbura). Borrowing Arabic in plural form is not unusual: a similar case is the word magazine, derived from the plural ????? max?zin of the Arabic singular noun ???? maxzan "storehouse/depot/shop".
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA(key): /m??k??b??/, /m??k??b?(?)/
- (US) IPA(key): /m??k?b/, /m??k?b??/, /m??k?b?/
- Homophone: McCobb
Adjective
macabre (comparative more macabre, superlative most macabre)
- Representing or personifying death.
- 1941, George C. Booth, Mexico's School-made Society, page 106
- There are four fundamental figures. One is a man measuring and comparing his world […] In front of him is a macabre figure, a cadaver ready to be dissected. This symbolizes man serving mankind. The third figure is the scientist, the man who makes use of the information gathered in the first two fields of mensurable science.
- 1941, George C. Booth, Mexico's School-made Society, page 106
- Obsessed with death or the gruesome.
- 1993, Theodore Ziolkowski, "Wagner's Parsifal between Mystery and Mummery", in Werner Sollors (ed.), The Return of Thematic Criticism, pages 274-275
- Indeed, in the 1854 draft of Tristan he planned to have Parzival visit the dying knight, and both operas display the same macabre obsession with bloody gore and festering wounds.
- 1993, Theodore Ziolkowski, "Wagner's Parsifal between Mystery and Mummery", in Werner Sollors (ed.), The Return of Thematic Criticism, pages 274-275
- Ghastly, shocking, terrifying.
- 1927 [1938], H. P. Lovecraft, Supernatural Horror in Literature, Introduction
- The appeal of the spectrally macabre is generally narrow because it demands from the reader a certain degree of imagination and a capacity for detachment from every-day life.
- Synonyms: ghastly, horrifying, shocking, terrifying
- 1927 [1938], H. P. Lovecraft, Supernatural Horror in Literature, Introduction
Derived terms
- danse macabre
Translations
See also
- Danse Macabre on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
References
Anagrams
- carbeam
Catalan
Etymology
From French macabre
Adjective
macabre (feminine macabra, masculine and feminine plural macabres)
- macabre
French
Etymology
From Danse Macabre (“dance of death”), from Old French, usually said to be from Macabé (“Maccabee”), in reference to a mystery play depicting their slaughter. See Maccabee.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ma.kab?/
Adjective
macabre (plural macabres)
- macabre
Synonyms
- lugubre
Derived terms
- danse macabre
Further reading
- “macabre” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).
References
Italian
Adjective
macabre
- feminine plural of macabro
Romanian
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [ma?ka.bre]
Adjective
macabre
- nominative feminine plural of macabru
- accusative feminine plural of macabru
- nominative neuter plural of macabru
- accusative neuter plural of macabru
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