Synonyms of dire
120 similar words
Another word for dire is star-crossed. Other synonyms of dire are ill-starred, sinister, disastrous, ill-fated and foreboding.
Synonyms and similar words for dire
adjectiveWarning of bad consequences: ill-boding; portentous.
- forebodingOf ominous significance; serving as an ill omen; foretelling of harm or difficulty.
- inauspiciousNot auspicious; ill-omened.
- augurousFull of augury; foreboding.
- balefulPortending evil; ominous.
- bodefulPortentous; ominous; foreboding.
- bodingForeboding, ominous, portending.
- disastrousForeboding disaster; ill-omened.
- fatalForeboding death or great disaster.
- ill-bodingWhich bodes evil; portending bad things.
- ill-fatedUnlucky; doomed.
- ill-omenedHaving a bad omen; inauspicious; unlucky.
- ill-starredDoomed to a bad fate; hapless.
- ominous
- brooding
- portentousOminously prophetic.
- presagefulFull of presages; ominous.
- presagiousForeboding; ominous.
- sinisterInauspicious, ominous, unlucky, illegitimate.
- star-crossedIll-fated by destiny, the fate of the person being “written in the stars”.
- divine obsoleteForeboding; prescient.
- inauspicate obsoleteInauspicious.
- nefastous rareInauspicious, disastrous, ill-omened.
- omenic rareHaving the quality of an omen; carrying ominous or prophetic significance.
- prodigious archaicHaving the nature of an omen or portent; ominous, portentous.
- sullen obsoleteGloomy; dismal; foreboding.
adjectiveRequiring action to prevent bad consequences: urgent, pressing.
adjectiveExpressing bad consequences: dreadful; dismal.
- bleakUnhappy; cheerless; miserable; emotionally desolate.
- gloomySuffering from gloom; melancholy; dejected.
- cheerlessDevoid of cheer; gloomy.
- comfortlessOf a thing: offering no comfort; uncomforting.
- darkConducive to hopelessness; depressing or bleak.
- moroseSullen, gloomy; showing a brooding ill humour.
- depressingCausing depression or sadness.
- desolateDismal or dreary.
- disconsolateCheerless, dreary.
- dismalCausing despair; gloomy and bleak.
- dolefulFilled with grief, mournful, bringing feelings of sadness.
- dolesomeCharacterised or marked by sorrow and grief; doleful; dismal; gloomy.
- drearDreary.
- drearisomeCharacterised or marked by dreariness.
- drearyDrab; dark, colorless, or cheerless.
- dreich UK, dialectalBleak, cheerless, dismal, dreary, miserable.
- forlornPitifully sad, wretched, miserable; lonely, especially from feeling abandoned, deserted, forsaken.
- gaylessLacking gaiety; gloomy; somber; drab.
- grayDreary, gloomy, cloudy.
- gloomsomeCharacterised or marked by gloom.
- grimDismal and gloomy, cold and forbidding.
- joylessWithout joy; unhappy, sad.
- lack-laughterCheerless; sombre; serious.
- lugubriousGloomy, mournful or dismal, especially to an exaggerated degree.
- melancholyAffected with great sadness or depression.
- mirthlessLacking mirth; devoid of joy; sad.
- miserableOf the weather, extremely unpleasant due to being cold, wet, overcast, etc.
- no joke
- saturnineOf a setting: depressing, dull, gloomy.
- somber
- sombreDark; gloomy; shadowy, dimly lit.
- spiritlessLacking energy, drive, motivation or emotion. Enervated.
- sunlessDreary, cheerless.
- uncheerfulNot cheerful.
- uncheeryNot cheery; gloomy, pessimistic.
- unhappy
- unmerryNot merry, the opposite of merry; sad, gloomy.
- wintryChilling, cheerless.
- woeful
- solemn obsoleteCheerless, gloomy, sombre.
adjectiveBad in quality, awful, terrible.
- foul
- lousy
- abysmal figuratively
- atrocious
- awful
- chronic slang
- coarse
- cornyUncool, stupid, lame.
- crap slang, vulgarOf poor quality.
- crappy slang, vulgarBad, sick, or depressed.
- crummy slangBad; poor.
- disagreeable
- dogshit vulgar
- dreadful
- fifth-rateTerrible, awful; less than fourth-rate.
- fourth-rateTerrible, awful; less than third-rate.
- godawful
- hellishCausing great pain, discomfort or distress.
- hideous
- hopeless
- horrendousExtremely bad; awful; terrible.
- horrid
- horrible
- horrificCausing horror; horrifying.
- inadequateNot adequate; lacking in quality or quantity required; insufficient for a purpose.
- incompetentLacking the degree of ability and responsibility necessary to do a task successfully.
- inelegantNot elegant; not exhibiting neatness, refinement, or precision.
- intolerable
- inferiorOf low rank, standard or quality.
- lackluster
- loathsomeHighly offensive; abominable, sickening.
- naff slang
- negativeNot positive or neutral; bad; undesirable; unfavourable.
- odiousArousing or meriting strong dislike, aversion, or intense displeasure.
- ordinary AustraliaBad or undesirable.
- pathetic
- peakBad.
- piss-poorReflecting a low standard of workmanship or achievement; very inferior.
- rottenBad or terrible.
- rubbish Australia, colloquialExceedingly bad; awful.
- shitawful vulgarVery awful.
- shitty vulgarVery bad; unpleasant; miserable; insignificant.
Meaning of dire
- adjective Warning of bad consequences: ill-boding; portentous.
- adjective Requiring action to prevent bad consequences: urgent, pressing.
- adjective Expressing bad consequences: dreadful; dismal.
dire in other languages
Questions about synonyms of dire
- What is another word for dire?
- Dire has 120 synonyms on Word.ws, such as star-crossed, ill-starred, sinister, disastrous, ill-fated, foreboding, inauspicious and baleful.
- What does dire mean?
- Dire means warning of bad consequences: ill-boding; portentous.
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: dire (page history and authors) and the entries of the words listed. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws grouped the synonyms and antonyms by meaning and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this page: “Synonyms of dire.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/synonyms/dire. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.