dread
Noun pluraldreads (some meanings)
Formsdreads, dreading, dreaded
Pluraldreads (some meanings)
- 1To feel very worried or afraid about something, especially something that is going to happen.
I dread going to the dentist next week.
She was dreading her first day at the new school.
UsagePut a noun or an -ing word after it: I'm dreading going back.
Similarfear
Note
- 2A strong fear of something bad that you think is going to happen.
She felt a wave of dread as the plane began to shake.
The thought of the long, dark winter filled him with dread.
UsageSay dread of something, or filled with dread.
Similarfear, apprehension, foreboding, trepidation, terror
Note
- 3
- 4Short for dreadlock. An informal word, mostly used in the plural.
He has long dreads that reach halfway down his back.
A single dread hung down over her eye.
UsageSay grow dreads or tie your dreads back.
Less common meanings
- 5
- 6To make hair into dreadlocks.
He wants to dread his hair this summer.
Her friend dreaded her hair over two long afternoons.
- 7A Rastafarian, a person who follows the Rastafari faith.
An old dread sold mangoes at the market by the bus stop.
A group of dreads sat drumming and singing hymns of their faith on the beach.
SimilarRasta, Rastafarian
- 8
- 9
- 10So great or powerful that people feel fear and deep respect.
The people bowed low before their dread king.
The priests sang to their dread and holy god.
UsagePut it before a royal or holy noun: dread king, dread majesty.
Note
- 11Fury, or the quality of being terrible and frightening.
The mightie ones, affrayd of every chaunges dread
1596, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie QueeneHere, dread means the frightening quality of change that makes people afraid.Note
- 12A person who is honored and respected very deeply.
Note
- 13Short for dreadnought. An informal word for a big battleship from around World War I.
Showing meanings only.
Practice
Can you tell the meanings of dread apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.
Origins
From Old English drǣdan, "to fear", a shorter form of the older word ondrǣdan.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 2 facts
- Dread derives from Old English drǣdan, meaning ‘to fear’. en.wiktionary.org
- Drǣdan is a shortened form of the earlier ondrǣdan. en.wiktionary.org
From the verb dread, in Middle English.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 1 fact
- The noun dread was formed from the verb in Middle English. en.wiktionary.org
From an old form of the verb dread meaning "feared".
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 1 fact
- The adjective dread derives from an old participial form of the verb dread meaning 'feared'. en.wiktionary.org