dreadfulness
Quality of horror
Dreadfulness is the quality of inspiring dread or being extremely bad.
The word appears in two registers: serious descriptions of genuinely terrible things the dreadfulness of war and informal complaints about minor unpleasantness the dreadfulness of Monday mornings.
The gap between these uses often creates ironic effect.
Extreme, overwhelming fear
- panicUncontrollable sudden fear
- frightSudden intense fear
- alarmUrgent warning signal
- trepidationFearful uncertainty
anxiety · horror · petrification · trembling · paralysis · heart-pounding · blood-curdling · spine-chilling
Disturbing, death-obsessed
- ghoulishFascinated by death grotesquely
- gruesomeCausing horror and disgust
- nightmarishFrightening like bad dreams
- monstrousFrighteningly huge or wicked
bloodcurdling · haunting · eerie · chilling · frightening · creepy · sinister · eldritch
Intensely excessive in force
- unbearableImpossible to endure
- extremeFurthest from moderate
- acuteIntensely severe or perceptive
- severeExtremely harsh or strict
profound · excruciating · agonizing · intense · piercing · unimaginable · unspeakable · indescribable
Intense physical aversion
- repulsionDisgust or pushing-away force
- loathingIntense, settled disgust
- abhorrenceExtreme hatred or disgust
- repugnanceIntense distaste or disgust
nausea · distaste · revulsion · abomination · recoil · sickening · nauseating · stomach-turning
Suggesting something bad approaches
- menacingConveying threat or danger
- portentousOminously significant
- threateningExpressing intent to harm
- forebodingFearful anticipation of harm
dire · baleful · dark · brooding · looming · impending · sinister · premonition
terror
Extreme, overwhelming fear
trepidation · anxiety · horror · petrification · trembling · paralysis · heart-pounding · blood-curdling · spine-chilling · hair-raising
macabre
Disturbing, death-obsessed
- ghoulishFascinated by death grotesquely
- gruesomeCausing horror and disgust
- nightmarishFrightening like bad dreams
monstrous · bloodcurdling · haunting · eerie · chilling · frightening · creepy · sinister · eldritch · spectral
overwhelming
Intensely excessive in force
- unbearableImpossible to endure
- extremeFurthest from moderate
- acuteIntensely severe or perceptive
severe · profound · excruciating · agonizing · intense · piercing · unimaginable · unspeakable · indescribable · staggering
disgust
Intense physical aversion
- repulsionDisgust or pushing-away force
- loathingIntense, settled disgust
- abhorrenceExtreme hatred or disgust
repugnance · nausea · distaste · revulsion · abomination · recoil · sickening · nauseating · stomach-turning · vile
ominous
Suggesting something bad approaches
- menacingConveying threat or danger
- portentousOminously significant
- threateningExpressing intent to harm
foreboding · dire · baleful · dark · brooding · looming · impending · sinister · premonition · apprehension
bleak
Dreary and without cheer
dismal · dreary · hopeless · depressing · mournful · melancholy · funereal · stark · grim · wretched
- horrorshorror, terror, fright, frightfulness, terribleness
dreadfulnessexcellence
Outstanding quality or merit
wonderfulness · greatness · magnificence · splendidness · brilliance
dreadfulnessdelightfulness
Quality of causing pleasure
pleasantness · wonderfulness · enjoyableness · agreeableness · loveliness
dreadfulnessbeauty
Aesthetic excellence
attractiveness · appeal · allurement · desirability · desirableness
dread, dreadful, dreaded, dreadfully, dreadlocks, dreading, dreads, dreadnought