Adjective

(en adjective)

Causing dread; very bad.

* 1900 , , (The Wonderful Wizard of Oz) Chapter 23

"My greatest wish now," she added, "is to get back to Kansas, for Aunt Em will surely think something dreadful has happened to me, and that will make her put on mourning; and unless the crops are better this year than they were last, I am sure Uncle Henry cannot afford it."

*, chapter=17

, title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=This time was most dreadful for Lilian. Thrown on her own resources and almost penniless, she maintained herself and paid the rent of a wretched room near the hospital by working as a charwoman, sempstress, anything. In a moment she had dropped to the level of a casual labourer.}}

* {{quote-news, year=2011, date=December 10, author=Marc Higginson, work=BBC Sport

, title= Bolton 1-2 Aston Villa , passage=After a dreadful performance in the opening 45 minutes, they upped their game after the break and might have taken at least a point from the match.}}

Adjective

(en-adj)

(lb) Subject to death; mortal.

*:

*:And whan he cam to the sacrament of the masse / and had done / anone he called Galahad and sayd to hym come forthe the seruaunt of Ihesu cryst and thou shalt see that thou hast moche desyred to see / & thenne he beganne to tremble ryght hard / whan the dedely flesshe beganne to beholde the spyrytuel thynges

*Wyclif Bible, (w) i. 23

*:The image of a deadly man.

Causing death; lethal.

Aiming or willing to destroy; implacable; desperately hostile.

:

*(William Shakespeare) (1564-1616)

*:Thy assailant is quick, skillful, and deadly .

(lb) Very accurate (of aiming with a bow, firearm, etc.).

*

*:But then I had the [massive] flintlock by me for protection. ¶, and a 'bead' could be drawn upon Molly, the dairymaid, kissing the fogger behind the hedge, little dreaming that the deadly tube was levelled at them.

(lb) Very boring.

*

*:“I don't mean all of your friends—only a small proportion—which, however, connects your circle with that deadly , idle, brainless bunch—the insolent chatterers at the opera, the gorged dowagers, the worn-out, passionless men, the enervated matrons of the summer capital,!”

(lb) Excellent, awesome, cool.