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Dreadful vs Fantastic - What's the difference?

dreadful | fantastic |

As adjectives the difference between dreadful and fantastic

is that dreadful is causing dread; very bad while fantastic is fantastic.

As a noun dreadful

is a shocking or sensational crime.

dreadful

English

Alternative forms

* (l) (archaic) * (l) (obsolete)

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.}}

    Usage notes

    * Nouns to which "dreadful" is often applied: day, night, state, news, time, secret, storm, mistake, accident, story, dream, havoc, truth, loss, act, life, thought, creature, curse, suffering.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A shocking or sensational crime.
  • A shocking or sensational report of a crime.
  • Derived terms

    * penny dreadful

    References

    * (EtymOnLine)

    fantastic

    English

    Alternative forms

    * fantastick (obsolete) * (l) * (l) (obsolete) * phantastique (archaic)

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Existing in or constructed from fantasy; of or relating to fantasy; fanciful.
  • He told fantastic stories of dragons and goblins.
    His fantastic post-college plans had all collapsed within a year of graduation.
    She had a fantastic view of her own importance that none of her colleagues shared.
  • Not believable; implausible; seemingly only possible in fantasy.
  • The events were so fantastic that only the tabloids were willing to print them.
    She entered the lab and stood gaping for a good ten minutes at the fantastic machinery at work all around her.
  • Resembling fantasies in irregularity, caprice, or eccentricity; irregular; grotesque.
  • * T. Gray
  • There at the foot of yonder nodding beech, / That wreathes its old fantastic roots so high.
  • Wonderful; marvelous; excellent; extraordinarily good or great (used especially as an intensifier ).
  • "I had a simply fantastic vacation, and I can't wait to tell you all about it!"

    Synonyms

    * (based in fantasy rather than reality) fabulous, fantastical * (extravagantly fanciful and unrealistic) foolish, hare-brained, unrealistic, wild * (incredibly wonderful) brilliant, fabulous, splendid, super, wonderful * See also

    Antonyms

    * (incredibly wonderful) sucktastic

    Derived terms

    * fantastical * fantastically