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# dire

«dire» in Mova's school dictionary: **very serious or terrible, often dangerous** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

### part of speech

adjective (dire, direr, direst)

### meaning for a pupil

1) Dire means very serious or terrible, often dangerous. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/dire/#m1)

2) Dire needs or situations are extremely urgent. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/dire/#m2)

3) (UK, informal) Dire means very bad or of low quality. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/dire/#m3)

### 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 →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/dire/#x1)
- The scientists gave a dire warning about the melting ice. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/dire/#x2)
- If you break the rules, there will be dire consequences, the wizard said. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/dire/#x3)
- After losing his job, the family was in dire straits. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/dire/#x4)
- That film was absolutely dire — I fell asleep. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/dire/#x5)
- The weather was dire all weekend. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/dire/#x6)
- The lost sailors were in a dire situation. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/dire/#x7)
- It was a high compliment to Peter that at that dire moment their thoughts turned to him. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/dire/#x8)

### 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](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/dire/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.