different between dreadful vs unspeakable
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.
dreadful From the web:
- what dreadful means
- what dreadful situation is knox referring to
- what dreadful dole is here
- what dreadful oracle was cited in the story
- what does dreadful mean
- what is meant by dreadful
unspeakable
English
Etymology
From Middle English unspekable, equivalent to un- +? speakable.
Pronunciation
Adjective
unspeakable (comparative more unspeakable, superlative most unspeakable)
- Incapable of being spoken or uttered
- Synonyms: unutterable, ineffable, inexpressible
- 1855-1882, Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass, book xv,
- The endless pride and outstretching of man, unspeakable joys and sorrows.
- Unfit or not permitted to be spoken or described.
- 1916, James Joyce, A Portrait Of The Artist As A Young Man, ch. 3,
- The miser will remember his hoard of gold, the robber his ill-gotten wealth, the angry and revengeful and merciless murderers their deeds of blood and violence in which they revelled, the impure and adulterous the unspeakable and filthy pleasures in which they delighted.
- 1916, James Joyce, A Portrait Of The Artist As A Young Man, ch. 3,
- Extremely bad or objectionable.
- an unspeakable fool
- an unspeakable play
- 1926, H.P. Lovecraft, The Outsider,
- Yet to my horror I saw in its eaten-away and bone-revealing outlines a leering, abhorrent travesty on the human shape; and in its mouldy, disintegrating apparel an unspeakable quality that chilled me even more.
Synonyms
- See also Thesaurus:indescribable
Derived terms
- unspeakably
- unspeakableness
Translations
References
- unspeakable in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
- “unspeakable” in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
- "unspeakable" in the Wordsmyth Dictionary-Thesaurus (Wordsmyth, 2002)
- "unspeakable" in Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary (Cambridge University Press, 2007)
- “unspeakable”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–present.
- "unspeakable" at Rhymezone (Datamuse, 2006).
- Oxford English Dictionary, second edition (1989)
Scots
Etymology
un- +? speak +? -able
Adjective
unspeakable (comparative mair unspeakable, superlative maist unspeakable)
- unspeakable
unspeakable From the web:
- what unspeakable phone number
- what unspeakable real name
- what unspeakable's number
- what unspeakable is like off camera
- what's unspeakables address
- what's unspeakables last name
- what's unspeakables roblox name
- what's unspeakables server
you may also like
- dreadful vs unspeakable
- harsh vs bristling
- aid vs resource
- intent vs incentive
- assigned vs distinguishing
- flimsy vs dainty
- puzzling vs occult
- bit vs sliver
- hardihood vs pertinacity
- unsteady vs unresolved
- seeming vs assumed
- freed vs unimprisoned
- partisan vs patron
- cast vs genre
- tidings vs bulletin
- call vs explanation
- exceptionally vs abnormally
- zone vs land
- breach vs fracture
- efficient vs accurate