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Webster 1913 Edition

Dread

Dread

(drĕd)
,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Dreaded
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Dreading
.]
[AS.
drǣdan
, in comp.; akin to OS.
drādan
, OHG.
trātan
, both only in comp.]
To fear in a great degree; to regard, or look forward to, with terrific apprehension.
When at length the moment
dreaded
through so many years came close, the dark cloud passed away from Johnson’s mind.
Macaulay.

Dread

,
Verb.
I.
To be in dread, or great fear.
Dread
not, neither be afraid of them.
Deut. i. 29.

Dread

,
Noun.
1.
Great fear in view of impending evil; fearful apprehension of danger; anticipatory terror.
The secret
dread
of divine displeasure.
Tillotson.
The
dread
of something after death.
Shakespeare
2.
Reverential or respectful fear; awe.
The fear of you, and the
dread
of you, shall be upon every beast of the earth.
Gen. ix. 2.
His scepter shows the force of temporal power,
The attribute to awe and majesty,
Wherein doth sit the
dread
and fear of kings.
Shakespeare
3.
An object of terrified apprehension.
4.
A person highly revered.
[Obs.]
“Una, his dear dread.”
Spenser.
5.
Fury; dreadfulness.
[Obs.]
Spenser.
Syn. – Awe; fear; affright; terror; horror; dismay; apprehension. See
Reverence
.

Dread

,
Adj.
1.
Exciting great fear or apprehension; causing terror; frightful; dreadful.
A
dread
eternity! how surely mine.
Young.
2.
Inspiring with reverential fear; awful' venerable;
as,
dread
sovereign;
dread
majesty;
dread
tribunal.

Webster 1828 Edition

Dread

DREAD

,
Noun.
Dred. [L., to dread; fearful; to tremble. The primary sense is probably to tremble, or to shrink.]
1.
Great fear, or apprehension of evil or danger. It expresses more than fear, and less than terror or fright. It is an uneasiness or alarm excited by expected pain, loss or other evil. We speak of the dread of evil; the dread of suffering; the dread of the divine displeasure. It differs from terror also in being less sudden or more continued.
2.
Awe; fear united with respect.
3.
Terror.
Shall not his dread fall on you. Job 13.
4.
The cause of fear; the person or the thing dreaded.
Let him be your dread. Isaiah 8.

DREAD

,
Adj.
1.
Exciting great fear or apprehension.
2.
Terrible; frightful.
3.
Awful; venerable in the highest degree; as dread sovereign; dread majesty; dread tribunal.

DREAD

,
Verb.
T.
To fear in a great degree; as, to dread the approach of a storm.

DREAD

,
Verb.
I.
To be in great fear.
Dread not, neither be afraid of them. Deuteronomy 1.

Definition 2024

dread

dread

English

Verb

dread ‎(third-person singular simple present dreads, present participle dreading, simple past and past participle dreaded)

  1. (transitive) To fear greatly.
  2. To anticipate with fear.
    I'm dreading getting the results of the test, as it could decide my whole life.
    • 1877, Anna Sewell, Black Beauty Chapter 22
      Day by day, hole by hole our bearing reins were shortened, and instead of looking forward with pleasure to having my harness put on as I used to do, I began to dread it.
  3. (intransitive) To be in dread, or great fear.
    • Bible, Deuteronomy i. 29
      Dread not, neither be afraid of them.
  4. (transitive) To style (the hair) into dreadlocks.

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

dread ‎(plural dreads)

  1. Great fear in view of impending evil; fearful apprehension of danger; anticipatory terror.
    • Tillotson
      the secret dread of divine displeasure
    • Shakespeare
      the dread of something after death
    • 2014 April 12, Michael Inwood, “Martin Heidegger: the philosopher who fell for Hitler [print version: Hitler's philosopher]”, in The Daily Telegraph (Review), London, page R11:
      In 1928 [Martin] Heidegger succeeded [Edmund] Husserl to take a chair at Freiburg and in his inaugural lecture made a pronouncement that earned him a reputation as an archetypal metaphysician with his claim that our awareness of people as a whole depends on our experience of dread in the face of nothingness.
  2. Reverential or respectful fear; awe.
    • Bible, Genesis ix 2.
      The fear of you, and the dread of you, shall be upon every beast of the earth.
    • Shakespeare
      His sceptre shows the force of temporal power, / The attribute to awe and majesty, / Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings.
  3. Somebody or something dreaded.
  4. (obsolete) A person highly revered.
    • Spenser
      Una, his dear dread
  5. (obsolete) Fury; dreadfulness.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Spenser to this entry?)
  6. A Rastafarian.
  7. (chiefly in the plural) dreadlock

Translations

Adjective

dread ‎(comparative dreader, superlative dreadest)

  1. Terrible; greatly feared.
  2. (archaic) Awe-inspiring; held in fearful awe.
    • 1633, John Hay, editor, The Acts Made in the First Parliament of our Most High and Dread Soveraigne Charles, by the Grace of God, King of Great Britaine, France, and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, &c.: Holden by Himselfe, Present in Person, with His Three Estates, at Edinburgh, upon the Twentie Eight Day of Iune, Anno Domini 1633, Edinburgh: Printed by Robert Young, printer to the Kings most excellent Maiestie, OCLC 606535094:
      The acts made in the first Parliament of our most high and dread soveraigne Charles [I], by the grace of God, King of Great Britaine, France, and Ireland, defender of the faith, &c. […] [book title]

Derived terms

See also

Anagrams

Portuguese

Alternative forms

Noun

dread m (plural dreads)

  1. Short for dreadlock.

Etymology

Middle English dreden, from Old English drǣdan ‎(“to fear, caution against”), aphetic form of ādrǣdan, ondrǣdan ‎(“to advise or counsel against”); compare with Dutch ontraden ‎(“to advise or counsel against”), from and- ‎(“against”) + rǣdan ‎(“to counsel, advise”). Akin to Old High German intrātan ‎(“to fear”). More at read.

Pronunciation

  • enPR: drĕd, IPA(key): /dɹɛd/
  • Rhymes: -ɛd

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