dread

B2 Topic:Emotions & Feelings

US /dɹɛd/ See IPA manual

Freq #11552

Meanings

1

verb
To feel very afraid or anxious about something that is going to happen.

I'm dreading the exam results next week.
2

noun
A strong feeling of fear about something that may happen.

My visit to the dentist fills me with dread.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to feel very afraid or... fear

2 noun · a strong feeling of fear... fear terror

Word family

Forms dreadeddreadingdreads

Derived forms dreadabledreadendreadfuldreadinglydreadlessdreadlydreadmilldreadnessdreadsomedreadworthydreadyfordread

Related forms dreadlocks dreadnought

Etymology

From Middle English dreden, from Old English drǣdan (“to fear, dread”), aphetic form of ondrǣdan (“to fear, dread”), from Proto-West Germanic *andarādan, equivalent to Old English and- + rǣdan (whence read); corresponding to an aphesis of earlier adread. Akin to Old Saxon antdrādan, andrādan (“to fear, dread”), Old High German intrātan (“to fear”), Middle High German entrāten (“to fear, dread, frighten”).

dreden Middle English drǣdan Old English *andarādan Proto-West Germanic

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# dread

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B2
**Part of speech:** verb, noun
**IPA (US):** /dɹɛd/
**Frequency rank:** 11552

## Meanings
1. To feel very afraid or anxious about something that is going to happen.
2. A strong feeling of fear about something that may happen.

## Examples
- I'm dreading the exam results next week.
- My visit to the dentist fills me with dread.

## Derived Forms
- dreadable
- dreaden
- dreadful
- dreadingly
- dreadless
- dreadly
- dreadmill
- dreadness
- dreadsome
- dreadworthy
- dready
- fordread

## Related Forms
- dreadlocks
- dreadnought

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: dreden
- Root: drǣdan
- Root: *andarādan

## Etymology
From Middle English dreden, from Old English drǣdan (“to fear, dread”), aphetic form of ondrǣdan (“to fear, dread”), from Proto-West Germanic *andarādan, equivalent to Old English and- + rǣdan (whence read); corresponding to an aphesis of earlier adread. Akin to Old Saxon antdrādan, andrādan (“to fear, dread”), Old High German intrātan (“to fear”), Middle High German entrāten (“to fear, dread, frighten”).

## AI Etymology
Dread comes from Middle English dreden, from Old English drǣdan (“to fear, dread”), aphetic form of ondrǣdan (“to fear, dread”), from Proto-West Germanic *andarādan, equivalent to Old English and- + rǣdan (whence read); corresponding to an aphesis of earlier adread. Akin to Old Saxon antdrādan, andrādan (“to fear, dread”), Old High German intrātan (“to fear”), Middle High German entrāten (“to fear, dread, frighten”).

## Topics
- Emotions & Feelings

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dread

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