dire
Example Sentences
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The United Nations on Friday called for the safe evacuation and repatriation of some 6,000 sailors stuck in a "dire humanitarian and human rights crisis" in the Strait of Hormuz.
From Barron's β Jul. 24, 2026
That’s a hit to gasoline markets that “you really can’t make up for,” De Haan said, and is particularly dire when U.S. refineries are already operating at nearly 97% capacity.
From MarketWatch β Jul. 20, 2026
But the current dire circumstances of the TV business explain why there is little pushback.
From Los Angeles Times β Jul. 19, 2026
"Is the situation really so dire that we'll now accept Dwayne Johnson repeating the exact same voice performance he gave a decade ago?" she wrote.
From BBC β Jul. 10, 2026
Travelers to the village were rare, but occasionally a peddler would come through the village, selling "penny dreadful" accounts of grisly murders, fateful encounters, dire doings and remarkable escapes.
From "Stardust" by Neil Gaiman
Rademacher said the showers will continue into at least Monday, with the midweek looking a bit direr.
From Seattle Times β Mar. 2, 2024
The fallout from that could be direr than you anticipate.
From Slate β Sep. 9, 2022
The pandemic pushed the world’s poor into direr straits, but for some young people it launched careers and improved chances for wealth.
From Los Angeles Times β Oct. 16, 2021
With Christmas now just months away, supermarkets are warning that the situation could become direr.
From Washington Post β Sep. 1, 2021
The conviction forced itself on me that there were worse complications, direr misfortunes, still to come.
From Poor Miss Finch by Collins, Wilkie
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 β May 16, 2024
This is an ancient and nearly universal idiom that resurfaces, in different forms, in different places, and at different times, in the direst of circumstances.
From Salon β May 4, 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 β Aug. 18, 2023
By contrast, Biden spoke of his “obsessive optimism” on Wednesday, cutting the figure of a man who has previously been considered politically endangered only to defy at least the direst predictions.
From Washington Post β Nov. 9, 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
Vocabulary lists containing dire
The SAT: Words to Capture Tone, List 2
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"Macbeth" Vocabulary from Act I
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The New SAT: Words to Capture Tone
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com β we'll help you make the most of your study time!
