dire
part of speech
adjective (dire, direr, direst)
meaning for a pupil
1) Dire means very serious or terrible, often dangerous. tree →
2) Dire needs or situations are extremely urgent. tree →
3) (UK, informal) Dire means very bad or of low quality. tree →
sense in the lessons
In the news and in stories, dire describes disasters, warnings and danger: «dire warning», «in dire need», «dire straits» (a very difficult situation). In UK everyday talk, a film or a meal can be «dire» meaning awful. Common phrases: «in dire need of», «dire straits», «dire consequences», «dire warning», «absolutely dire».
examples
- The village was in dire need of clean water after the flood. tree →
- The scientists gave a dire warning about the melting ice. tree →
- If you break the rules, there will be dire consequences, the wizard said. tree →
- After losing his job, the family was in dire straits. tree →
- That film was absolutely dire — I fell asleep. tree →
- The weather was dire all weekend. tree →
- The lost sailors were in a dire situation. tree →
- It was a high compliment to Peter that at that dire moment their thoughts turned to him. tree →
note
Comparative direr and superlative direst are rare; people say «more dire». Do not confuse with «dyer» (someone who dyes cloth). The informal «dire» meaning «rubbish» is mostly British.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «dire» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.