different between dreadful vs terrific
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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terrific
English
Alternative forms
- terrifick (obsolete)
Etymology
From French terrifique, and its source, Latin terrificus (“terrifying”), from terrere (“to frighten, terrify”) + -ficus, from facere (“to make”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /t????f?k/
- Rhymes: -?f?k
Adjective
terrific (comparative more terrific, superlative most terrific)
- (now rare) Terrifying, causing terror; terrible; sublime, awe-inspiring. [from 17th c.]
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:frightening
- 1796–7, Mary Wollstonecraft, The Wrongs of Woman, Oxford 2009, p. 83:
- [T]he dismal shrieks of demoniac rage […] roused phantoms of horror in her mind, far more terrific than all that dreaming superstition ever drew.
- 1821, Charles Maturin, Melmoth the Wanderer, volume 2, page 154:
- Think of wandering amid sepulchral ruins, of stumbling over the bones of the dead, of encountering what I cannot describe,—the horror of being among those who are neither the living or the dead;—those dark and shadowless things that sport themselves with the reliques of the dead, and feast and love amid corruption,—ghastly, mocking, and terrific.
- Very strong or intense; excessive, tremendous. [from 18th c.]
- The car came round the bend at a terrific speed.
- I've got a terrific hangover this morning.
- Extremely good; excellent, amazing. [from 19th c.]
- I say! She's a terrific tennis player.
Synonyms
- brilliant
- horrific
Related terms
- terrible
- terrify
- terrifying
- terror
- terrorist
- terrorize
Translations
Further reading
- terrific in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
- terrific in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
Anagrams
- ferritic
terrific From the web:
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