dire- +

1. Warning of or having dreadful or terrible consequences; calamitous: "He presented a dire economic forecast."
2. Characterized by severe, serious, or desperate circumstances: "They were in dire need because of the hurricane which also, naturally, resulted in dire poverty."
3. Fraught with extreme danger; nearly hopeless.
4. Warning of a future disaster or serious consequences.

1. Causing fear, dread, or terror.
2. Dreadful; awful; terrible.
2. Indicating trouble: "The economist indicated direful forecasts for future investments."

1. In a direful manner.
2. Dreadfully; terribly; woefully: "Seeing himself trapped in the snow, he cried out direfully on his cell phone."

1. Dreadfully; terribly: "She could only think direly of what the storm did to her house."
2. An indication of trouble, disaster, misfortune, etc.: "The predictions were direly presented by the financial adviser."
3. Urgently; desperately: "They were direly in need of food."

1. Terribleness; horror; dismalness.
2. Desperately urgent.

1. Warning of or having more dreadful or terrible consequences.
2. More calamitous.

1. Causing or involving the greatest fear or suffering; most dreadful; exceedingly terrible: "The terrorists threaten the people with the direst punishments of beatings and death for cooperating with the government."
2. The worst indications of trouble, disasters, or misfortunes: "The preacher spoke of the direst consequences of an immoral life."