Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Direful \Dire"ful\, a. [Dire + -ful.]
   Dire; dreadful; terrible; calamitous; woeful; as, a direful
   fiend; a direful day. -- {Dire"ful*ly}, adv. --
   {Dire"ful*ness}, n.

Source : WordNet®

direful
     adj : causing fear or dread or terror; "the awful war"; "an awful
           risk"; "dire news"; "a career or vengeance so direful
           that London was shocked"; "the dread presence of the
           headmaster"; "polio is no longer the dreaded disease it
           once was"; "a dreadful storm"; "a fearful howling";
           "horrendous explosions shook the city"; "a terrible
           curse" [syn: {awful}, {dire}, {dread(a)}, {dreaded}, {dreadful},
            {fearful}, {fearsome}, {frightening}, {horrendous}, {horrific},
            {terrible}]