ˈfi(ə)rfəl, -iəf- adjective
( sometimes -er/-est )
Etymology: Middle English ferful, from fer, fere fear + -ful — more at fear I
1.
a. : inspiring or likely to inspire fear, fright, or alarm : dangerous and alarming
spent a fearful night alone in the woods
won the war but at a fearful cost
b. : caused by, indicative of, or attended by fear
casting fearful glances at the large dog as he passed it
2. : full of fear, alarm, awe, concern, or apprehension:
a. : afraid , apprehensive
Henry, fearful lest his prize should escape him at the last, was driven to offer terms — J.R.Green
fearful for his safety
b. : inclined to fear : timorous
heaped scorn on all fearful people who strove only for comfort and security
c. archaic : cautious
d. : marked by awe or reverence
riveted his eyes in fearful ecstasy — Thomas Gray
3.
a. : extremely bad, shocking, or revolting
fearful slum conditions
b. : extreme , large , numerous — usually used as a generalized intensifier with the force of a superlative
a patron who had taken a fearful shellacking wagered every last chip — Bennett Cerf
she exercises a fearful attraction — C.W.Cunnington
a fearful litter of paper — Arnold Bennett
Synonyms:
awful , dreadful , frightful , terrible , terrific , horrible , horrific , shocking , appalling , dire : in loose use most of these words may be used to mean little more than extreme. More precisely, fearful applies to what makes one feel fear, fright, alarm, agitation, or loss of courage
our fearful trip is done, the ship has weathered every rack — Walt Whitman
a fearful battlefield, the earth of it gaped open by shells and bombs — Ira Wolfert
monsters, ghosts, spirit voices, and other fearful sights and sounds — Time
awful describes that which strikes one profoundly with overpowering awareness of might, power, or significance transcending the individual
he looked at war and he saw through all the sham glory to the awful evil beneath — Edith Hamilton
the awful impersonality of those great rock-creatures, the terrible impartiality of that cold, clinging wind which swept by, never an inch lifted above ground — John Galsworthy
the awful arithmetic of the atomic bomb — D.D.Eisenhower
dreadful applies to what fills one with a haunting shuddering fear or yearning to escape, often unanalyzable and persistent
he perished, he and his house, struck by a thunderbolt in the midst of a dreadful storm — J.G.Frazer
in his delirium his ravings have been dreadful; of wolves and poison and blood; of ghosts and demons — Bram Stoker
frightful is applicable either to what causes consternated fright at the moment or to what is generally awful, outrageous, or enormous
the Ghost of a Lady, dressed in deep mourning, a scar on her forehead, and a bloody handkerchief at her breast, frightful to behold — George Meredith
look at what the British did in Greece — the most frightful military blunder, for which they are paying now — Upton Sinclair
a frightful spectacle of poverty, barbarity, and ignorance — T.B.Macaulay
terrible describes whatever inspires terror or extreme desperate dominating fear; it may describe something unendurable or excruciating to feelings or sensibilities
so terrible was his wrath at their resistance that the Dean of St. Paul's, who stood forth to remonstrate, dropped dead of sheer terror at his feet — J.R.Green
three terrible days in the hospital, tortured by a monster headache, a frightful thirst — Xavier Herbert
one of those terrible women produced now and then by the Roman stock, unsexed, implacable, filled with an insane lust of power — John Buchan
terrific applies to what compels terror, often by force, stunning effect, release of energy, explosive manifestation
eyes starting with frantic terror at the terrific scene that met them — C.G.D.Roberts
a terrific barrage of shell and bomb fragments, smoke, flame and debris from the stricken vessel — F.D.Roosevelt
in 1848 a $75,000 dam was completed, and on the same day it was swept away by the terrific pressure, incorrectly calculated, of the water behind it — American Guide Series: Massachusetts
horrible describes that which instills a combination of terror and loathing or one of pure loathing at hideousness or hatefulness
there came a most horrible yell — the most dreadful sound, Mr. Holmes, that ever I heard. It will ring in my ears as long as I live. I sat frozen with horror for a minute or two — A. Conan Doyle
every horrible detail of Nazi atrocity — Encounter
the most horrible monsters and tortures, and the most loathsome and noisome abominations, that his fervid imagination could concoct — C.W.Eliot
horrific is close to horrible but may stress actual effect rather than the potential effect of the latter
that horrific yarn “The Body-Snatcher” — C.E.Montague
there was a horrific, splitting, tearing roar, and then I knew no more — A.C.Whitehead
shocking is a milder term applying to what startles, especially as contrary to expectations, taste, sensibilities, or morality
his face has been terribly mutilated, and — what seems even more shocking — the poor fellow's hands have been cut right off at the wrists — Dorothy Sayers
the shocking realities of a world in which the principles of common humanity and common decency are being mowed down by the firing squads of the Gestapo — F.D.Roosevelt
appalling describes what terrifies and also dismays or dumbfounds
a huge bomb had … gone off with such appalling violence that it killed thirty people outright and injured hundreds — F.L.Allen
an appalling exhaustion rendered her helpless — Arnold Bennett
dire applies to the extremely fearful and dread or ominous
prophets of the downfall of American democracy have seen their dire predictions come to naught — F.D.Roosevelt
the dire possibilities of a head-on collision — O.S.Nock
wolves ran in ferocious packs, dire wolves, larger than any wolf man has seen — Marjory S. Douglas
Synonym: see in addition afraid .