The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 4 letter word DIRE
I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
D
I
R
E
More clues leading to the result DIRE
- Democrat anger is dreadful
- Shocking manager losing the second half
- Urgent command to clear court
- Frank’s caught out with ominous results
- Dreadful bit of misdirection
- Dreadful anger shown by daughter
- Dreadful person running company? Not half
- Song’s no good — awful
- Terrible anger shown by daughter
- Dreadful day I recall with no phone
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "dreadful" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case dreadful = dire.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.
What does DIRE mean?
DIRE adjective- Warning of bad consequences: ill-boding; portentous.
- Requiring action to prevent bad consequences: urgent, pressing.
- Expressing bad consequences: dreadful; dismal
- Bad in quality, awful, terrible.