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"
fraught with extreme danger; nearly hopeless; "a desperate illness"; "on all fronts the Allies were in a desperate situation due to lack of materiel"- G.C.Marshall; "a dire emergency"
INTENSE
(of color) having the highest saturation; "vivid green"; "intense blue"
extremely sharp or intense; "acute pain"; "felt acute annoyance"; "intense itching and burning"
possessing or displaying a distinctive feature to a heightened degree; "intense heat"; "intense anxiety"; "intense desire"; "intense emotion"; "the skunk's intense acrid odor"; "intense pain"; "enemy fire was intense"
SEVERE
causing fear or anxiety by threatening great harm;
very bad in degree or extent;
unsparing and uncompromising in discipline or judgment;
intensely or extremely bad or unpleasant in degree or quality;
severely simple;
very strong or vigorous;
SHARP
ending in a sharp point
marked by practical hardheaded intelligence; "a smart businessman"; "an astute tenant always reads the small print in a lease"; "he was too shrewd to go along with them on a road that could lead only to their overthrow"
(of something seen or heard) clearly defined; "a sharp photographic image"; "the sharp crack of a twig"; "the crisp snap of dry leaves underfoot"
a long thin sewing needle with a sharp point
having or made by a thin edge or sharp point; suitable for cutting or piercing; "a sharp knife"; "a pencil with a sharp point"
a musical notation indicating one half step higher than the note named
keenly and painfully felt; as if caused by a sharp edge or point; "a sharp pain"; "sharp winds"
quick and forceful; "a sharp blow"
very sudden and in great amount or degree; "a sharp drop in the stock market"
extremely steep; "an abrupt canyon"; "the precipitous rapids of the