n. the act of inspiring with fear

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"

adj. extremely wicked, deeply criminal; "a flagitious crime"; "heinous accusations"

adj. (of events) having extremely unfortunate or dire consequences; bringing ruin; "the stock market crashed on Black Friday"; "a calamitous defeat"; "the battle was a disastrous end to a disastrous campaign"; "such doctrines, if true, would be absolutely fatal to my theory"- Charles Darwin; "it is fatal to enter any war without the will to win it"- Douglas MacArthur; "a fateful error"

adj. severely destructive; "cataclysmic nuclear war"; "a cataclysmic earthquake"

adj. causing destruction or much damage; "a policy that is destructive to the economy"; "destructive criticism"

adj. extremely painful

adj. extremely irritating to the nerves; "nerve-racking noise"; "the stressful days before a war"; "a trying day at the office"

adj. causing an emotional disturbance; "his disconcerting habit of greeting friends ferociously and strangers charmingly"- Herb Caen; "an upsetting experience"

adj. extremely distressing; "fearful slum conditions"; "a frightful mistake"

adj. marked by barbarity suggestive of a cannibal; rapaciously savage

adj. stemming from evil characteristics or forces; wicked or dishonorable; "black deeds"; "a black lie"; "his black heart has concocted yet another black deed"; "Darth Vader of the dark side"; "a dark purpose"; "dark undercurrents of ethnic hostility"; "the scheme of some sinister intelligence bent on punishing him"-Thomas Hardy

adj. grossly offensive to decency or morality; causing horror; "subjected to outrageous cruelty"; "a hideous pattern of injustice"; "horrific conditions in the mining industry"

adj. disagreeable to the senses, to the mind, or feelings ; "an unpleasant personality"; "unpleasant repercussions"; "unpleasant odors"

adj. causing consternation; "appalling conditions"

adj. provoking horror; "an atrocious automobile accident"; "a frightful crime of decapitation"; "an alarming, even horrifying, picture"; "war is beyond all words horrible"- Winston Churchill; "an ugly wound"

adj. threatening or foreshadowing evil or tragic developments; "a baleful look"; "forbidding thunderclouds"; "his tone became menacing"; "ominous rumblings of discontent"; "sinister storm clouds"; "a sinister smile"; "his threatening behavior"; "ugly black clouds"; "the situation became ugly"

adj. extremely alarming

adj. provoking fear terror; "a scary movie"; "the most terrible and shuddery...tales of murder and revenge"

adj. causing a sensation as of things crawling on your skin; "a creepy story"; "I had a creepy-crawly feeling"

adj. worthy of respect or honor; "born of a redoubtable family"

adj. shockingly repellent; inspiring horror; "ghastly wounds"; "the grim aftermath of the bombing"; "the grim task of burying the victims"; "a grisly murder"; "gruesome evidence of human sacrifice"; "macabre tales of war and plague in the Middle ages"; "macabre tortures conceived by madmen"

adj. hazardous and frightening; "hairy moments in the mountains"

adj. causing extreme terror; "a terrifying wail"