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Lousy vs Dire - What's the difference?

lousy | dire |

As an adjective lousy

is remarkably bad; of poor quality, dirty, or underhanded; mean, contemptible.

As a verb dire is

.

lousy

English

Adjective

(er)
  • Remarkably bad; of poor quality, dirty, or underhanded; mean, contemptible.
  • * No offense, but your cooking is lousy .
  • Infested with lice.
  • (colloquial) Filled or packed with something.
  • * The place was lousy with students .
  • * She's lousy with credit cards, goes shopping every day!

    • Usage notes

    Prior to World War II, it was an offensive insult, implying filthiness. Now considered a mild or rather dated term.

    Derived terms

    * lousy evil

    Related terms

    * cootie, crab louse, crabs, louse, pubic louse

    dire

    English

    Adjective

    (en-adj)
  • Warning of bad consequences: ill-boding; portentous.
  • Requiring action to prevent bad consequences: urgent, pressing.
  • *{{quote-magazine, date=2014-06-14, volume=411, issue=8891, magazine=(The Economist)
    • , title= It's a gas , passage=One of the hidden glories of Victorian engineering is proper drains.
  • Expressing bad consequences: dreadful; dismal; horrible; terrible; lamentable.
  • (label) Bad in quality, awful, terrible.
  • * {{quote-news, year=2011, date=December 10, author=Arindam Rej, work=BBC Sport
    • , title= Norwich 4-2 Newcastle , passage=A second Norwich goal in four minutes arrived after some dire Newcastle defending. Gosling gave the ball away with a sloppy back-pass, allowing Crofts to curl in a cross that the unmarked Morison powered in with a firm, 12-yard header.}}

    Quotations

    * (English Citations of "dire")

    Derived terms

    * direful * direly * direness * dire sisters * dire straits * dire wolf

    See also

    * voir dire

    Anagrams

    * * * ----