Dread

Part of speech: noun, verb

Pronunciation: /dɹɛd/

Definitions

1. A feeling of great fear or apprehension about something that may happen in the future
2. Intense anxiety mixed with fear that anticipates something unpleasant or harmful
3. Profound unease and terror felt when contemplating an impending or possible negative event

Etymology: Old English "drǣdan" meant "to fear" or "to dread," and it was once a trimmed version of a longer word. The fuller form, "ondrǣdan," carried the prefix "and-" (roughly "against" or "toward"), and its root, "rǣdan," is the same stem that gives modern English "read" in its older sense of "to advise" or "to interpret." Losing the opening syllable is a process linguists call aphesis, and the shortened verb entered Middle English as "dreden." The noun came later, from the verb's past participle forms in Middle English, and it is the sense most people use today: a deep, heavy fear, often one anticipating something bad. Its relatives across the Germanic languages show the same pattern. Old Saxon had "antdrādan" and Old High German "intrātan," both meaning "to fear," and Old Frisian "drēd" carried the noun meaning.

Synonyms: fear, apprehension, terror, anxiety, worry

Antonyms: calm, confidence, ease, comfort, relief