dire
Direct German Translations & Equivalents:
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Definitions & Usage
Warning of bad consequences: ill-boding; portentous.
Requiring action to prevent bad consequences: urgent, pressing.
Expressing bad consequences: dreadful; dismal.
(informal) Bad in quality, awful, terrible.
(fantasy, gaming) Ferocious and of intimidating appearance, like a dire wolf.
Notable Literary & Historical Quotes
“One of the hidden glories of Victorian engineering is proper drains.[…]But out of sight is out of mind. And that, together with the inherent yuckiness of the subject, means that many old sewers have been neglected and are in dire need of repair.”
— 2014 June 14, “It's a gas”, in The Economist, volume 411, number 8891:
“Cristiana Paşca Palmer, the executive secretary of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, said the destruction of the world’s biggest rainforest was a grim reminder that a fresh approach needed to stabilise the climate and prevent ecosystems from declining to a point of no return, with dire consequences for humanity.”
— 2019 August 30, Jonathan Watts, “Amazon fires show world heading for point of no return, says UN”, in The Guardian:
“And, of course, overlooking 1 ... Q-R8 mate, would be a dire mistake.”
— 1973 May, Jack Straley Battell, “Announce the Mate!”, in Chess Life & Review: