Genuinely horrific, awful, or alarming; dangerous, risky. / (hyperbolic) Unpleasant, awful, very bad (also used as an intensifier). / (obsolete) Awesome, awe-inspiring, causing feelings of reverence.

(informal) Dreadfully.

A shocker: a report of a crime written in a provokingly lurid style. / A journal or broadsheet printing such reports. / A shocking or sensational crime.

present participle of dread

plural of dreadful

Quality of being dread.

(originally derogatory, now usually historical) A cheap paperback book, particularly those concerning lurid depictions of crime in the Victorian era.

plural of penny dreadful

plural of rent-a-dread

(slang) A male sex worker in the Caribbean, catering to female sex tourists.