1
as in ominous
being or showing a sign of evil or calamity to come
the stock market crash was the first direful indication of the dark days to come
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in terrifying
causing fear
heard the direful howling of the wolves during the night
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for direful
Adjective
-
Living in this area means constantly being on high alert when the weather turns ominous.—
Tereza Shkurtaj,
People.com,
5 Apr. 2025 -
The rest of the night wasn’t so bleak, but the ominous start did accurately forecast the result.—
Bennett Durando,
Denver Post,
3 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
Back in August, Renner spoke about how his terrifying snowplow accident in January 2023 led to his daughter becoming a little more independent.—
Hannah Sacks,
People.com,
28 Mar. 2025
-
Prehistoric insects encased in amber reveal a terrifying evolutionary road that dead-ended sometime after the mid-Cretaceous period.—
Andrew Paul,
Popular Science,
27 Mar. 2025
Adjective
-
The supernatural thriller is set in the Jim Crow South, where twin brothers—each played by Jordan—return home from Chicago with hopes of starting over, only to confront a sinister force that’s been waiting for them.—
Essence,
Essence,
2 Apr. 2025
-
The banal village tunes that Mahler altered into sinister mock vulgarities—did these not recall the raffish klezmer bands, the wandering musicians who played at shtetl weddings?—
David Denby,
The Atlantic,
1 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
In the great-power competition with the United States’ adversaries, none is more formidable than the Chinese Communist Party.—
Arthur Herman,
National Review,
3 Apr. 2025
-
Tyler Glasnow is formidable on the mound when healthy.—
Bill Plunkett,
Oc Register,
1 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
Until Henry momentarily excuses himself from the table, that is, and the person or persons behind these winky-wink messages tell her to poison Henry ASAP or the menacing guy currently hiding in her apartment will kill her boy.—
David Fear,
Rolling Stone,
10 Apr. 2025
-
Ivan Koloff Oreal Donald Perras, wrestling as Ivan Koloff, became synonymous with the menacing Soviet villain.—
Raja Krishnamoorthi,
MSNBC Newsweek,
9 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
Some veterans have impressed at the midpoint of coach Mike Norvell's spring-practice rebuilding as FSU aims to recover from last year's horrible campaign.—
Bob Ferrante,
The Orlando Sentinel,
5 Apr. 2025
-
But then two horrible shifts by the Wild turned the game upside down in the blink of an eye.—
Michael Russo,
New York Times,
5 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
This is great news for our model but terrible for upsets.—
Jordan Brenner,
New York Times,
4 Apr. 2025
-
The rhetoric pushed here is that someone with a high body count has less value and will either make a terrible partner or no one will want them in the first place.—
Mark Travers,
Forbes.com,
4 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
Good news California began trying to police ghost guns after those frightening findings came out, enacting legislation in both 2022 and 2023 to curtail their unregulated sales.—
Anita Chabria,
Los Angeles Times,
27 Mar. 2025
-
But the bloodshed that unfolded March 6-10 in Latakia and Tartous represents a frightening escalation.—
Chris Massaro,
Fox News,
23 Mar. 2025
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Cite this Entry
“Direful.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/direful. Accessed 16 Apr. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share