dire

 
Pronunciation: /ˈdʌɪə/

adjective

  • 1extremely serious or urgent: misuse of drugs can have dire consequences he was in dire need of help
  • (of a warning or threat) presaging disaster: there were dire warnings from the traffic organizations
  • 2British informal of a very poor quality: the concert was dire

Derivatives

direly

adverb

direness

noun

Origin:

mid 16th century: from Latin dirus 'fearful, threatening'