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Adjective: dire (direr,direst)  dI(-u)r
  1. Fraught with extreme danger; nearly hopeless
    "a dire emergency";
    - desperate
     
  2. Causing fear, dread or terror
    "dire news";
    - awful, direful [archaic], dread, dreaded, dreadful, fearful, fearsome, frightening, horrendous, horrific, terrible
     
  3. [Brit, informal] Very bad
    "a dire play";
    - icky [informal], lousy [informal], rotten [informal], stinking [informal], stinky [informal], rubbish [Brit, informal], crummy [informal]

Sounds like: dines, dynese, dye

Derived forms: direr, direst

See also: alarming, bad, critical

Encyclopedia: Dire, Mali