different between unpleasant vs dreadful
unpleasant
English
Etymology
From Middle English unplesaunt, equivalent to un- +? pleasant.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /?n?plez?nt/
Adjective
unpleasant (comparative unpleasanter or more unpleasant, superlative unpleasantest or most unpleasant)
- Not pleasant.
- c. 1596, William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice, Act III, Scene 2,[1]
- O sweet Portia,
- Here are a few of the unpleasant’st words
- That ever blotted paper!
- 1722, Daniel Defoe, A Journal of the Plague Year, London: E. Nutt, p. 214,[2]
- It was indeed one admirable piece of Conduct in the said Magistrates, that the Streets were kept constantly clear, and free from all manner of frightful Objects, dead Bodies, or any such things as were indecent or unpleasant, unless where any Body fell down suddenly or died in the Streets […]
- 1811, Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility, Chapter 35,[3]
- The very circumstance, in its unpleasantest form, which they would each have been most anxious to avoid, had fallen on them.
- 1865, Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Chapter 1,[4]
- […] she had read several nice little histories about children who had got burnt, and eaten up by wild beasts and other unpleasant things, all because they would not remember the simple rules their friends had taught them […]
- 1921, Walter de la Mare, Memoirs of a Midget, Chapter 37,[5]
- And I dipped into novels so like the unpleasanter parts of my own life that they might just as well have been autobiographies.
- c. 1596, William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice, Act III, Scene 2,[1]
Derived terms
- unpleasantness
Synonyms
- disagreeable
Translations
Anagrams
- pennatulas
unpleasant From the web:
- what unpleasant mean
- what does unpleasant mean
- what do unpleasant mean
- what does extremely unpleasant mean
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
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