dread.
To fear greatly.
Meaning & usage
To fear greatly.
To anticipate with fear.
I'm dreading getting the results of the test, as it could decide my whole life.
To be in dread, or great fear.
To style (the hair) into dreadlocks.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English dreden, from Old English drǣdan (“to fear, dread”), aphetic form of ondrǣdan (“to fear, dread”), from Proto-West Germanic *andarādan, equivalent to Old English and- + rǣdan (whence read); corresponding to an aphesis of earlier adread. Akin to Old Saxon antdrādan, andrādan (“to fear, dread”), Old High German intrātan (“to fear”), Middle High German entrāten (“to fear, dread, frighten”).
Great fear in view of impending evil; fearful apprehension of danger; anticipatory terror.
My visit to the doctor is filling me with dread.
Reverential or respectful fear; awe.
Somebody or something dreaded.
A person highly revered.
Fury; dreadfulness.
A Rastafarian.
Clipping of dreadlock.
Clipping of dreadnought.
The Royal Navy sent six dreads and four BCs to intercept the German raiding force.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English drede, dred, from the verb (see above). Cognate with Old Frisian drēd, drēde (“fear, dread”).
Terrible; greatly feared; dreaded.
Awe-inspiring; held in fearful awe.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English drede, dredde, dradde, ydreddyd (“feared, dreaded, honoured”), past participle of Middle English dreden (“to fear, dread”). See above.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.