direly
In desperate fashion
Direly means in a dire manner—urgently, desperately, or with serious consequences.
Resources may be direly needed, warnings direly given.
The word emphasizes severity or desperation: The project was direly underfunded.
Less common than the adjective dire, direly appears mostly in formal or literary contexts.
With urgent intensity
- criticallyWith serious judgment
- urgentlyWith pressing immediacy
- immediatelyWithout any pause
- pressinglyIn urgent manner
acutely · seriously · gravely · severely · imperatively · necessarily · crucially · vitally
desperately
With urgent intensity
- criticallyWith serious judgment
- urgentlyWith pressing immediacy
- immediatelyWithout any pause
pressingly · acutely · seriously · gravely · severely · imperatively · necessarily · crucially · vitally · extremely
needed
Was essential for
- lackingBeing without something
- wantingAbsent or insufficient
- insufficientBelow required quantity
scarce · deficient · short · sparse · meager · inadequate · deprived · starved · bereft · impoverished
direlymildly
In a gentle way
slightly · trivially · marginally · minimally · negligibly
direlyfortunately
By favorable circumstance
beautifully · wonderfully · happily · pleasantly · auspiciously
direlyfortunately
By favorable circumstance
luckily · auspiciously · propitiously · providentially · felicitously
- dire straitsSevere hardship or peril
- in dire straits
- dire wolvesExtinct large wolf species
- dire wolfExtinct large canine species
- voir direPretrial juror examination