dread

[[t]dre̱d[/t]]

dreads, dreading, dreaded

1) VERB If you dread something which may happen, you feel very anxious and unhappy about it because you think it will be unpleasant or upsetting.

[V n/-ing] I'm dreading Christmas this year...

[V n/-ing] I dreaded coming back, to be honest...

[V n -ing] I suffer badly from cold sores and dread them appearing on my wedding day...

[V that] I'd been dreading that the birth would take a long time. [Also V to-inf]

Ant:

look forward to

2) N-UNCOUNT Dread is a feeling of great anxiety and fear about something that may happen.

She thought with dread of the cold winters to come.

Syn:

apprehension

3) ADJ: usu ADJ n Dread means terrible and greatly feared. [LITERARY]

...a more effective national policy to combat this dread disease.

Syn:

dreaded

4) ADJ: ADJ n (feelings) You can use dread to describe something that you, or a particular group of people, find annoying or undesirable. [INFORMAL]

...the dread phrase `politically correct'.

Syn:

dreaded

5) → See also dreaded

6) PHRASE: V inflects, usu PHR wh If you say that you dread to think what might happen, you mean that you are anxious about it because it is likely to be very unpleasant.

I dread to think what will happen in the case of a major emergency...

I dread to think what Hollywood is planning to do with this interesting little story.