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Grim vs Dreadful - What's the difference?

grim | dreadful | Related terms |

Dreadful is a synonym of grim.



As adjectives the difference between grim and dreadful

is that grim is dismal and gloomy, cold and forbidding while dreadful is causing dread; very bad.

As a proper noun Grim

is {{surname|A=An|English}}, probably derived from Old English grimm or Old Norse grimr or grimmr.

As a noun dreadful is

a shocking or sensational crime.

grim

English

Adjective

(grimmer)
  • dismal and gloomy, cold and forbidding
    • Life was grim in many northern industrial towns.
  • rigid and unrelenting
    • His grim determination enabled him to win.
  • ghastly or sinister
    • A grim castle overshadowed the village.
  • * 2012 March 22, Scott Tobias, “ The Hunger Games''”, in ''AV Club :
    • In movie terms, it suggests Paul Verhoeven in Robocop/Starship Troopers mode, an R-rated bloodbath where the grim spectacle of children murdering each other on television is bread-and-circuses for the age of reality TV, enforced by a totalitarian regime to keep the masses at bay.
  • (UK, slang) disgusting; gross
    • Wanna see the dead rat I found in my fridge? —Mate, that is grim !

    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)