What's the difference between dire and horrible?

Dire


Definition:

  • (superl.) Ill-boding; portentous; as, dire omens.
  • (superl.) Evil in great degree; dreadful; dismal; horrible; terrible; lamentable.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) Why is it so surprising to people that a boy like Chol, just out of conflict, has thought through the needs of his country in such a detailed way?” While Beah’s zeal is laudable, the situation in South Sudan is dire .
  • (2) It is that beautiful moment when the original Metamorphosis is destroyed so that it can be refashioned for a global community of readers in dire need of new forms of storytelling.
  • (3) In this investigation, reanalysis of responses to case vignettes obtained from 436 psychologists, psychiatrists, and internists revealed that on the issue of confidentiality management, these health care providers discriminate among cases involving: Premeditated harm to others, socially irresponsible acts with possible dire consequences to self or others, and minor theft.
  • (4) The report’s concluding chapters raised dire warning that the operations of contemporary child protection agencies were replicating many of the destructive dynamics of the Stolen Generations era.
  • (5) Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple, warned Barack Obama in public remarks this month that history had shown “sacrificing our right to privacy can have dire consequences”.
  • (6) Algeria had not scored a World Cup goal since they drew 1-1 with Northern Ireland at Mexico 1986, a run that took in five matches, including that dire 0-0 draw with England in Cape Town four years ago.
  • (7) Professor Lord Stern of the London School of Economics, the author of the influential Stern Report into the economics of climate change for the Treasury in 2006, warned that if the pattern continued, the results would be dire.
  • (8) High among the range of issues was the media dominance of the Globo group (whose journalists were chased away from demonstrations by an irate mob), inefficient use of public funds, forced relocations linked to Olympic real estate developments, the treatment of indigenous groups, dire inequality and excessive use of force by police in favela communities.
  • (9) Burrows had resigned as governor of Bank of Ireland, leaving the lender in dire straits, with big losses and mounting debt threatening its very survival.
  • (10) Yet the inability to get on in life is a now a major and growing problem for middle-class children and this group is in dire need of attention, it is expected to report.
  • (11) Vince Cable, their shadow chancellor, said: "The Liberal Democrats welcome the government's recognition that radical action is now needed, reflecting the dire and deteriorating position of the UK economy.
  • (12) Its willingness to ignore diplomatic convention and use its Kuala Lumpur embassy to conduct an extraterritorial assassination will be seen as setting a dire precedent that cannot be allowed to stand.
  • (13) What is clear, however, is that the reported escalation in fighting exacerbates the already dire humanitarian and human rights situation and the suffering of the Yemeni people,” said Ban’s spokesman, Farhan Haq.
  • (14) In a scene of young soldiers at rest for a few minutes at the front, he takes us into their heads: one full of dire forebodings, another singing, one trying to identify a bird on a tree – soldiers dreaming of girls’ breasts, dogs, sausages and poetry.
  • (15) Despite its own dire predictions on the potential impact of climate change , the government's impact assessment for Flood Re does not take account of " changing flood risk due to deterioration of existing flood defences [or] climate change".
  • (16) The situation is so dire the National Audit Office has warned that by 2020 schools will be worse funded than at any time since the mid-90s.
  • (17) John Macgregor, an aid worker who has been accompanying teams delivering food and water to Battambang, described the area as a vast inland sea where conditions are dire and malnutrition is common.
  • (18) But they are also the stuff of nightmares, because if an electricity grid is overwhelmed by demand, the consequences can be dire, as India discovered recently , when more than 700 million people were left without power.
  • (19) Thousands of jobs that would have been created will be lost and the knock-on effect will be so dire.
  • (20) While big businesses have enjoyed access to new couriers, Royal Mail itself eventually reached such a dire state that the Hooper report urged the government to rewrite the law to clarify that competition was a mixed blessing.

Horrible


Definition:

  • (a.) Exciting, or tending to excite, horror or fear; dreadful; terrible; shocking; hideous; as, a horrible sight; a horrible story; a horrible murder.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) Eleven women have died in India and dozens more are in hospital, with 20 listed as critically ill, after a state-run mass sterilisation campaign went horribly wrong.
  • (2) And it’s horrible to make these books sound homogeneous,” Brackstone says, “but in a way, they’re all different aspects of the same story.
  • (3) Harping on endlessly about a woman’s hair, legs and handbag instead of her ideas and achievements can be horribly belittling, a way of refusing to take her seriously as a professional.
  • (4) "It's horrible and brutal to be that far back and searching for those gears and they're not there," O'Hare admitted.
  • (5) A formation featuring Mile Jedinak playing just in front of the back four suggested a draw would suit them just fine, and a horribly sterile first half, during which each team mustered precisely one shot on goal, confirmed as much.
  • (6) This is why we have seen these horrible events [like typhoon Haiyan and hurricane Sandy] in the past few years, with many people affected.
  • (7) The condensed version of the UN rights commission’s report into the country runs to just 36 horrible pages.
  • (8) Other stories are circulating – about a Trabelsi who gave someone a horrible kicking because he felt like it, or another who caused a car accident only to return home to sleep.
  • (9) We’ve been through the courts three times, and it’s a horrible, horrible process and we need to make sure that this doesn’t happen to any other family,” Georgie said.
  • (10) That cameo seemed horribly emblematic of a thoroughly underwhelming opening half which ended unadorned by a single shot on target, but almost imperceptibly something was shifting, and Klopp’s demeanour slowly shifted from jovially laid-back to scratchy and irritable.
  • (11) If the ACA is really so horrible, then let’s hear a better plan.
  • (12) We said before the game, life’s horrible, it’s really tough sometimes; you get a kick in the teeth just when you think you’ve made it and, wow, did we get a kick in the teeth in our semi-final.
  • (13) They make it horrible.” Jakarta’s existing three cycle lanes are painted a foot or two wide – and ignored by motorists.
  • (14) The irony of this is that today, when I was getting all of this horrible antisemitic shit that I’ve only ever seen in Russia, I was reminded that 26 years ago today my family came to the US from Russia.
  • (15) And to put us in a situation where we are only ‘patriotic’ and only ‘heard’ if we actively take it upon ourselves to fight ‘terrorism’, as if we are responsible for these horrible acts, or by sending us to wars killing other Muslims, is also a problematic discourse.” While on guard near the Iraqi city of Baqubah in 2004, the 27-year-old Humayun Khan ran towards a suicide bomb vehicle that was headed in the direction of a mess hall where hundreds of servicemen were eating.
  • (16) While the reshuffle may be partly to appease fans who resent his position as a figurehead, it could also be seen as a tacit admission that Ashley got a big football decision horribly wrong last season, in deciding not to replace Alan Pardew and almost suffering relegation as a result.
  • (17) If he asked you to do something horrible, it was par for the course.
  • (18) They’ve just ransacked the house, it’s horrible, it’s terrible,” said Melissa Mill.
  • (19) Maybe you understand the twinkling of the stars, the falling of objects to earth or what it takes to be an astronaut, or you’ve battled a dragon or discovered just how stinky the stinky past could be in a horrible history.
  • (20) But it's also valuable to feel horrible about the government."

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