Definition of "direful"
direful
adjective
comparative more direful, superlative most direful
Quotations
I haue beene wooed, as I intreat thee now, / Euen by the ſterne, and direfull God of warre, / VVhoſe ſinowie necke in battel nere did bow, / VVho conquers where he comes in euery iarre; […]
1593, [William Shakespeare], Venus and Adonis, London: […] Richard Field, […]; 2nd edition, London: […] Richard Field, […], 1594, [verse 17], lines
"As whence the sun gins his reflection, shipwrecking storms and direful thunders break."
c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act I, scene ii]