Dire and Formidable

Dire

Dire adjective - Causing fear.
Usage example: a series of dire tremors that hinted at a huge volcanic eruption

Formidable is a synonym for dire in fear topic. In some cases you can use "Formidable" instead an adjective "Dire", when it comes to topics like harsh, terrible, frightful, awful.

Formidable

Formidable adjective - Causing fear.
Usage example: a formidable, irascible old man who frightened the neighborhood children

Dire is a synonym for formidable in property topic. You can use "Dire" instead an adjective "Formidable", if it concerns topics such as fear, harsh, terrible, frightful.

Nearby Word: formidably

Both words in one sentence

  • Sailor Moon's Stars arc (manga version) demotes the Senshi so that instead of being a formidable team, they almost instantly get into dire straits and are temporarily killed off so that we can see how heroic Usagi is as she copes with such tragedy.
  • Sorcerous Overlord Balthus Dire, formidable Magic Knight, third in a line of thoroughly malevolent warlords ruling the local Mordor; evil enough to have a debilitating sunlight allergy normally only suffered by The Undead.
Cite this Source
Formidable and Dire. (2016). Retrieved 2026, July 21, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/dire/formidable
Dire & Formidable. N.p., 2016. Web. 21 Jul. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/dire/formidable>.
Formidable or Dire. 2016. Accessed July 21, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/dire/formidable.
Google Ngram Viewer shows how "dire" and "formidable" have occurred on timeline