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Trivia Time
Which game once featured a Monster Manual with a whole menagerie of "dire" animals?

dire

[dahyuhr] / daɪər /




Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

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Humanitarian conditions in Gaza, including a lack of healthcare and shelter for those living there, remain dire.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 12, 2026

That, my friends, is what Social Security was designed to address: protecting people from the dire consequences of economic disaster.

From MarketWatch ● Nov. 10, 2026

Years of reports by the auditor-general have highlighted the dire state of most of South Africa's 257 municipalities.

From BBC ● Nov. 4, 2026

The abject poverty in a rural colonia could be something out of the most dire hollow in Appalachia.

From Slate ● Nov. 2, 2026

I went on desperately, trying to turn his mind from dire thoughts to loving ones.

From "Ophelia" by Lisa Klein

Rademacher said the showers will continue into at least Monday, with the midweek looking a bit direr.

From Seattle Times ● Mar. 2, 2024

The TV series balances humor and tragedy like the film did; however, it’s clear in the episodes that things are direr now.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 14, 2023

The fallout from that could be direr than you anticipate.

From Slate ● Sep. 9, 2022

“It’s getting to be a direr situation,” Hogan said Thursday morning at her motel where many residents live.

From Washington Post ● Jan. 6, 2022

Tell you, captain," he called out, "this has been a direr convulsion of nature than you have any idea.

From Cobwebs from an Empty Skull by Ambrose Bierce

Rakhine has suffered some of the direst conditions in the war, largely cut off from the rest of Myanmar.

From Barron's ● Sep. 29, 2026

A recent drought saw the three direst years on record, which dropped reservoirs around the state to dangerously low levels and prompted mandatory rationing and even caused some hydroelectric power plants to shut down.

From Seattle Times ● May 16, 2024

Equally miraculous is a nonfiction movie forged in the direst of challenges that never comes across like an issue-driven medical narrative.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2023

Wales received 56.7% of its expected rainfall between March and August, the third direst six-month period since records began in 1865.

From BBC ● Sep. 8, 2022

Unsure of its power or abilities, we dared not use it for anything but the direst of circumstances.

From "Where the Mountain Meets the Moon" by Grace Lin


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