WordWeb Online

1. Fraught with extreme danger; nearly hopeless
   "a dire emergency";
   - desperate
    
2. Causing fear, dread or terror
   "dire news";
   - awful, direful, dread, dreaded, dreadful, fearful, fearsome, frightening, horrendous, horrific, terrible
    
3. [Brit, informal] Very bad
   - icky [informal], lousy [informal], rotten, stinking, stinky [informal], crummy [informal], rubbish [Brit, informal]

Sounds like: dines, dynese, dye

Derived forms: direr, direst

See also: alarming, bad, critical

Encyclopedia: Dire, Mali