different between dreadful vs vulgar

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.

English

Alternative forms

• (early modern English): vulgare

Etymology

Borrowed into Middle English from Latin vulg?ris, from volgus, vulgus (“mob; common folk”), from Proto-Indo-European *wl?k- (compare Welsh gwala (“plenty, sufficiency”), Ancient Greek ???? (halía, “assembly”) ????? (eilé?, “to compress”), Old Church Slavonic ?????? (velik?, “great”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?v?l.??/
• (US) enPR: v?l?g?r, IPA^(key): /?v?l.??/

Adjective

vulgar (comparative more vulgar or vulgarer, superlative most vulgar or vulgarest)

1. Debased, uncouth, distasteful, obscene.
   • The construction worker made a vulgar suggestion to the girls walking down the street.
2. (classical sense) Having to do with ordinary, common people.
   • 1834-1874, George Bancroft, History of the United States, from the Discovery of the American Continent.

     The mechanical process of multiplying books had brought the New Testament in the vulgar tongue within the reach of every class.

   • 1860, G. Syffarth, "A Remarkable Seal in Dr. Abbott's Museum at New York", Transactions of the Academy of Science of St. Louis, age 265

     Further, the same sacred name in other monuments precedes the vulgar name of King Takellothis, the sixth of the XXII. Dyn., as we have seen.

3. (especially taxonomy) Common, usual; of the typical kind.

   the vulgar bush brown, Bicyclus vulgaris

   • 1869, Richard Francis Burton, The Highlands of the Brazil, page 85:

     A vulture (V. aura), probably the Acabiry first described by Azara, is here called […] the hunter. It resembles in form the vulgar bird, but it flies high. The head is red, and the wings are black with silver lining, like the noble Bateleur of Africa.

Synonyms

• (obscene): inappropriate, obscene, debased, uncouth, offensive, ignoble, mean, profane
• (ordinary): common, ordinary, popular

Derived terms

• (obscene): vulgarity, vulgarian
• (ordinary): vulgar fraction, vulgate, Vulgate
• vulgar fraction
• Vulgar Latin
• Vulgar Era

Translations

Noun

vulgar (plural vulgars)

1. (classicism) A common, ordinary person.
   • 2016, Evan Gottlieb, Juliet Shields, Representing Place in British Literature and Culture, 1660-1830

     Popular antiquarian writings […] frequently focused on the regional vulgars' superstitious beliefs regarding the dead and their ongoing presence—such as popular funeral rites or the vulgars' fear of church yards.

2. (collective) The common people.
3. The vernacular tongue or common language of a country.

Catalan

Etymology

From Latin vulg?ris.

Adjective

vulgar (masculine and feminine plural vulgars)

1. vulgar

Derived terms

• vulgarment

Related terms

• vulgaritat

Further reading

• “vulgar” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

Galician

Etymology

From Latin vulg?ris.

Adjective

vulgar m or f (plural vulgares)

1. common to the people, vulgar
2. ordinary, undistinguished
3. popular, commonly understood, as opposed to scientific or technical
4. simple, unintelligent

Synonyms

• (ordinary): prosaico
• (popular): común, popular

Antonyms

• (popular): científico, técnico

Related terms

• vulgaridade
• vulgarismo
• vulgo

Further reading

• “vulgar” in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega, Royal Galician Academy.

Portuguese

Etymology

From Latin vulg?ris.

Pronunciation

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /vu?.??a?/
• Hyphenation: vul?gar

Adjective

vulgar (plural vulgares, comparable)

1. common to the people, vulgar
2. ordinary, undistinguished

   Synonym: prosaico

3. popular, commonly understood, as opposed to scientific or technical

   Synonyms: comum, popular

4. simple, unintelligent

Antonyms

• (popular): científico, técnico

Related terms

• vulgaridade
• vulgarismo
• vulgo

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French vulgaire, Latin vulgaris.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /vul??ar/

Adjective

vulgar m or n (feminine singular vulgar?, masculine plural vulgari, feminine and neuter plural vulgare)

1. vulgar

Declension

Synonyms

• grosolan
• ordinar
• comun

Related terms

• vulg

Spanish

Etymology

From Latin vulg?ris.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bul??a?/, [bul???a?]

Adjective

vulgar (plural vulgares)

1. vulgar

Derived terms

Related terms

• vulgo
• vulgaridad

Further reading

• “vulgar” in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014.