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Dread vs Eager - What's the difference?

dread | eager |

In obsolete|lang=en terms the difference between dread and eager

is that dread is (obsolete) fury; dreadfulness while eager is (obsolete) sharp; keen; bitter; severe.

As nouns the difference between dread and eager

is that dread is great fear in view of impending evil; fearful apprehension of danger; anticipatory terror while eager is (tidal bore).

As adjectives the difference between dread and eager

is that dread is terrible; greatly feared while eager is (obsolete) sharp; sour; acid.

As a verb dread

is to fear greatly.

dread

English

Verb

(en verb)
  • To fear greatly.
  • 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[http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Black_Beauty/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.
  • To be in dread, or great fear.
  • * Bible, Deuteronomy i. 29
  • Dread not, neither be afraid of them.

    Derived terms

    * dreadable * dreadworthy

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • 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
  • * '>citation
  • 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.
  • Somebody or something dreaded.
  • (obsolete) A person highly revered.
  • * Spenser
  • Una, his dear dread
  • (obsolete) Fury; dreadfulness.
  • (Spenser)
  • A Rastafarian.
  • (chiefly, in the plural) dreadlock
  • Adjective

    (er)
  • Terrible; greatly feared.
  • (archaic) Awe-inspiring; held in fearful awe.
  • *
  • See also

    * dreadlocks * dreadnought

    Anagrams

    * * *

    eager

    English

    (Webster 1913)

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) eger, from (etyl) egre (French aigre), from (etyl) ; see acid, acerb, etc. Compare vinegar, alegar.

    Adjective

    (er)
  • (obsolete) Sharp; sour; acid.
  • * Shakespeare
  • like eager droppings into milk
  • (obsolete) Sharp; keen; bitter; severe.
  • * Shakespeare
  • eager words
  • * Shakespeare
  • a nipping and an eager air
  • (rfc-sense) Excited by desire in the pursuit of any object; ardent to pursue, perform, or obtain; keenly desirous; hotly longing; earnest; zealous; impetuous; vehement.
  • * Keble
  • When to her eager lips is brought / Her infant's thrilling kiss.
  • * Hawthorne
  • a crowd of eager and curious schoolboys
  • * {{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), title=(The China Governess)
  • , chapter=19 citation , passage=When Timothy and Julia hurried up the staircase to the bedroom floor, where a considerable commotion was taking place, Tim took Barry Leach with him. […]. The captive made no resistance and came not only quietly but in a series of eager little rushes like a timid dog on a choke chain.}}
  • Brittle; inflexible; not ductile.
  • * John Locke
  • Gold will be sometimes so eager , as artists call it, that it will as little endure the hammer as glass itself.
  • (comptheory) Not employing lazy evaluation; calculating results immediately, rather than deferring calculation until they are required.
  • an eager algorithm
    Synonyms
    * raring
    Derived terms
    * eager beaver * eagerly * eagerness

    Etymology 2

    See (m).

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (tidal bore).
  • Anagrams

    *