dire

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /daɪɚ/ UK /daɪə/ See IPA manual

adj

Meanings

1

adj
extremely serious, urgent, or dreadful

The refugees were in dire need of food and shelter.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · extremely serious, urgent,... dreadful grave desperate urgent calamitous terrible critical grievous

Opposites

mild trivial favorable auspicious

Word family

Forms direful

Derived forms direlydireness

Related forms direful

Etymology

From Latin dirus ('fearful, ominous, ill-boding'), perhaps related to Greek deinos ('terrible'); first attested in English in the 16th century.

dirus Latin *dwey- Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities

# dire

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** daɪɚ
**IPA (UK):** daɪə

## Meanings
1. extremely serious, urgent, or dreadful

## Examples
- The refugees were in dire need of food and shelter.

## Synonyms
- dreadful
- grave
- desperate
- urgent
- calamitous
- terrible
- critical
- grievous

## Antonyms
- mild
- trivial
- favorable
- auspicious

## Derived Forms
- direly
- direness

## Related Forms
- direful

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: dirus
- Root: *dwey-

## Etymology
From Latin dirus ('fearful, ominous, ill-boding'), perhaps related to Greek deinos ('terrible'); first attested in English in the 16th century.

## AI Etymology
Dire is from Latin dirus ('fearful, ominous, ill-boding'), perhaps related to Greek deinos ('terrible'); first attested in English in the 16th century. In present-day use, it means extremely serious, urgent, or dreadful. Derived formations include direly and direness. Related vocabulary includes direful.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities

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