dreadful

Etymology

It is formed from English dread + -ful,^[2][3][4][5] in Middle English dredeful, also dredful.^[6][7] The noun dread comes from the verb,^[2] Middle English dreden, which is probably shortened from Old English ādrǣdan,^[2][8][9] a later form of ondrǣdan (“to counsel against; to fear”).^[10][3][9] The Old English verb corresponds to Old Saxon antdrādan and Old High German intrātan;^[10][8] its first part is ond- (“against”),^[3] and while Etymonline identifies the second as rǣdan (“to advise”),^[3] Hoad calls that West Germanic base obscure.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

Full of dread or awe; fearful, timid, reverent: about 1225 in the Ancrene Riwle.^[2][6] Etymonline dates this sense to the early 13th century, and Dictionary.com gives 1175–1225 for the word.^[3][7]

Semantic evolution

Chaucer has both "terrible" and "fearful, timid", as well as "cautious".^[11] The feeling sense died out in the 17th century.^[2][4] The sense "inspiring dread or awe" is recorded before 1325 in the OED,^[2] although Etymonline puts "causing dread" at about 1200.^[3] Johnson (1773) lists "terrible; frightful; formidable" and then "awful; venerable", quoting Genesis: "How dreadful is this place!"^[12] The weakened sense "very bad" appears by the 1680s in Etymonline and in 1700 in the OED, which notes that later colloquial use often makes it a strong intensive.^[3][2] The adverbial use, now nonstandard in the OED's view, dates from 1682;^[2][4] in Somerset and Devon dialect it meant "very", and also "very friendly with".^[13] Penny dreadful, a cheap sensational crime story, is recorded from 1861,^[2] and plain dreadful in the same sense from about 1873 or 1874.^[5][2]

Timeline

• c. 1225 – full of dread or awe, fearful, reverent (obsolete by 1659).^[2]
• before 1325 – inspiring dread or reverence, terrible.^[2]
• c. 1400 – dangerous, perilous (now obsolete).^[2]
• 1682 – as an adverb, dreadfully.^[2]
• 1700 – exceedingly bad, disagreeable, or great.^[2] Etymonline dates the weakened sense to the 1680s.^[3]
• 1861 – penny dreadful, a cheap sensational crime story.^[2]
• 1874 – noun, a sensational crime story.^[2] Merriam-Webster has it from about 1873.^[5]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Extremely bad or unpleasant: What a dreadful meal that was.^[14][4]
2. Used to intensify: It's a dreadful pity that you missed the concert.^[14][2]
3. Causing great fear; terrifying: a dreadful flood.^[14][5]
4. Inspiring awe or reverence (archaic).^[14][5]
5. Full of dread; fearful or timid (obsolete, 1225–1659).^[2][5][4]

Adverb

1. Very, extremely (regional, nonstandard): dreadful tired.^[5][2][13]

Noun

1. A cheap, sensational story or periodical, especially about crime; a penny dreadful.^[5][4][15]

Word family

• dreadfully
• dreadfulness
• penny dreadful

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
7. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
8. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
9. ^ a b Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
10. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
11. ^ Skeat, W. W., ed. (1894), The Complete Works of Geoffrey Chaucer, vol. VI: Glossarial Index, Oxford: Clarendon Press
12. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
13. ^ a b Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
14. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
15. ^ Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com