Dire vs. Direful

Direadjective

Warning of bad consequences: ill-boding; portentous.

‘dire omens’;

Direfuladjective

Fearful, terrible.

Direadjective

Requiring action to prevent bad consequences: urgent, pressing.

‘dire need’;

Direfuladjective

Dire; dreadful; terrible; calamitous; woeful; as, a direful fiend; a direful day.

Direadjective

Expressing bad consequences: dreadful; dismal

‘dire consequences;’; ‘to be in dire straits’;

Direfuladjective

causing fear or dread or terror;

‘the awful war’; ‘an awful risk’; ‘dire news’; ‘a career or vengeance so direful that London was shocked’; ‘the dread presence of the headmaster’; ‘polio is no longer the dreaded disease it once was’; ‘a dreadful storm’; ‘a fearful howling’; ‘horrendous explosions shook the city’; ‘a terrible curse’;

Direadjective

(informal) Bad in quality, awful, terrible.

Direadjective

Ill-boding; portentous; as, dire omens.

Direadjective

Evil in great degree; dreadful; dismal; horrible; terrible; lamentable.

‘Dire was the tossing, deep the groans.’; ‘Gorgons and hydras and chimeras dire.’;

Direadjective

fraught with extreme danger; nearly hopeless;

‘a desperate illness’; ‘on all fronts the Allies were in a desperate situation due to lack of materiel’; ‘a dire emergency’;

Direadjective

causing fear or dread or terror;

‘the awful war’; ‘an awful risk’; ‘dire news’; ‘a career or vengeance so direful that London was shocked’; ‘the dread presence of the headmaster’; ‘polio is no longer the dreaded disease it once was’; ‘a dreadful storm’; ‘a fearful howling’; ‘horrendous explosions shook the city’; ‘a terrible curse’;

Direadjective

extremely serious or urgent

‘misuse of drugs can have dire consequences’; ‘he was in dire need of help’;

Direadjective

(of a warning or threat) presaging disaster

‘there were dire warnings from the traffic organizations’;

Direadjective

of a very poor quality

‘the concert was dire’;