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Fear vs Dreadful - What's the difference?

fear | dreadful |

As nouns the difference between fear and dreadful

is that fear is grass while dreadful is a shocking or sensational crime.

As an adjective dreadful is

causing dread; very bad.

fear

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl) feer, fere, fer, from (etyl) . The verb is from (etyl) feren, from (etyl) , from the noun.

Noun

  • (lb) A strong, uncontrollable, unpleasant emotion caused by actual or perceived danger or threat.
  • *
  • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=8 , passage=I corralled the judge, and we started off across the fields, in no very mild state of fear of that gentleman's wife, whose vigilance was seldom relaxed.}}
  • *
  • Turning back, then, toward the basement staircase, she began to grope her way through blinding darkness, but had taken only a few uncertain steps when, of a sudden, she stopped short and for a little stood like a stricken thing, quite motionless save that she quaked to her very marrow in the grasp of a great and enervating fear .
  • * {{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), title=(The China Governess)
  • , chapter=18 citation , passage=‘Then the father has a great fight with his terrible conscience,’ said Munday with granite seriousness. ‘Should he make a row with the police
  • (lb) A phobia, a sense of fear induced by something or someone.
  • *
  • Serene, smiling, enigmatic, she faced him with no fear whatever showing in her dark eyes. The clear light of the bright autumn morning had no terrors for youth and health like hers.
  • (lb) Extreme veneration or awe, as toward a supreme being or deity.
  • * Bible, (w)
  • I will put my fear in their hearts.
  • * Bible, (Psalms)
  • I will teach you the fear of the Lord.
    Synonyms
    * , terror, fright * , anxiety, apprehension * (extreme veneration) awe, reverence, veneration * See also
    Derived terms
    * affear * fearful * fearless * fearmonger * fearnaught * fearsome * no fear

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To cause fear to; to frighten.
  • * :
  • Thenne the knyghte sayd to syre Gawayn / bynde thy wounde or thy blee chaunge / for thou bybledest al thy hors and thy fayre armes // For who someuer is hurte with this blade he shalle neuer be staunched of bledynge / Thenne ansuerd gawayn hit greueth me but lytyl / thy grete wordes shalle not feare me ne lasse my courage
  • * (William Shakespeare) (1564-1616)
  • Tush, tush! fear boys with bugs.
  • (label) To feel fear about (something); to be afraid of; to consider or expect with alarm.
  • * (William Shakespeare) (1564-1616)
  • I greatly fear my money is not safe.
  • *
  • At twilight in the summer there is never anybody to fear —man, woman, or cat—in the chambers and at that hour the mice come out. They do not eat parchment or foolscap or red tape, but they eat the luncheon crumbs.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-19, author= Mark Tran
  • , volume=189, issue=6, page=1, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= Denied an education by war , passage=One particularly damaging, but often ignored, effect of conflict on education is the proliferation of attacks on schools
  • (lb) To venerate; to feel awe towards.
  • (lb) Regret.
  • (lb) To be anxious or solicitous for.
  • * (William Shakespeare) (1564-1616)
  • The sins of the father are to be laid upon the children, thereforeI fear you.
  • (lb) To suspect; to doubt.
  • * (William Shakespeare) (1564-1616)
  • Fear you not her courage?
    Synonyms
    * be afraid of, be frightened of, be scared of, be terrorised/terrorized be * (venerate) be in awe of, revere, venerate
    Derived terms
    * fear not * God-fearing * never fear

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) fere, feore, from (etyl) . Related to (l).

    Alternative forms

    * (l)

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • (dialectal) Able; capable; stout; strong; sound.
  • hale and fear

    Statistics

    *

    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)