How to Use dire in a Sentence
dire
adjective- They live in dire poverty.
- The circumstances are now more dire than ever.
- Some analysts are issuing dire economic forecasts.
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All wild tigers are threatened with extinction, but Sumatran tigers are in especially dire straits because the world's zoos have only 235 of them in captive-breeding programs.
— Audubon, November-December 1998 -
Was there ever a question of ending the season on such a dire note?
— Mark Peikert, IndieWire, 2 Oct. 2024 -
The fiduciary Zane and his wife had named found out about Zane’s dire situation and wanted to step in as planned.
— Carolyn Rosenblatt, Forbes, 11 Feb. 2023 -
Nearly all of the examples of fan ownership in England have come with the supporters saving a club in dire need.
— Zak Garner-Purkis, Forbes, 28 Sep. 2024 -
EMTs usually see people in the most dire situations, when they’re broken or burned.
— John Kelly, Washington Post, 15 Mar. 2023 -
Days and months go by, his attempts to escape turn into a primal need to survive and the dire situation takes a physical and mental toll.
— Brian Truitt, USA TODAY, 15 Mar. 2023 -
Fortunately, this situation is not as dire as initially feared and founders can breathe a collective–albeit hesitant–sigh of relief.
— Ben Lewis, Fortune, 20 Mar. 2023 -
And while this year’s outlook is rather dire, industry insiders are hopeful for the future of California’s Chinook salmon.
— Tori Latham, Robb Report, 20 Mar. 2023 -
That unceasing pressure has left Ukrainian troops surrounded on three sides and facing an increasingly dire situation.
— Mithil Aggarwal, NBC News, 16 Mar. 2023 -
The earthquake has worsened an already dire humanitarian situation in the region.
— Charlene Gubash, NBC News, 16 Feb. 2023 -
The effects that coups have on economies are no less dire.
— Comfort Ero, Foreign Affairs, 12 Dec. 2023 -
Merchant ably demonstrates the dire stakes of the Luddites’ plight.
— Kyle Chayka, The New Yorker, 26 Sep. 2023 -
Gloria didn’t seem to buy that things would be so dire.
— Michael Smolens, San Diego Union-Tribune, 8 Dec. 2023 -
The plight of the indie comic creator may be even more dire.
— Borys Kit, The Hollywood Reporter, 27 July 2023 -
The situation for trans Russians in the wake of the new law is far more dire.
— Fred Weir, The Christian Science Monitor, 4 Aug. 2023 -
The chances of my survival in these dire conditions would be slim to none.
— Ryan Hampton, Time, 15 Aug. 2023 -
Things became so dire that Mack once asked Combs for cash at an event.
— Cheyenne Roundtree, Rolling Stone, 16 Aug. 2024 -
Daniele and Yohan’s relationship may be in the most dire state, though.
— Kelly Wynne, Peoplemag, 26 Sep. 2023 -
But the region is also in dire need of more physicians.
— Madeline Mitchell, The Enquirer, 10 May 2023 -
So, back in the day, the dire warnings to skip wild oysters during the heat of summer were warranted.
— Sheri Castle, Southern Living, 21 July 2023 -
The report from the Housing Commission was even more dire.
— Blake Nelson, San Diego Union-Tribune, 7 May 2024 -
That’s a strong sign that those areas of the genome code for traits that can’t be changed without causing dire side effects.
— Nathaniel Scharping, Discover Magazine, 26 Dec. 2023 -
The conductor has been battling a dire form of brain cancer since 2021.
— Hannah Edgar, Chicago Tribune, 20 Sep. 2024 -
But there is still a dire need for effective treatments.
— Diana Kwon, Scientific American, 15 Aug. 2023 -
Bonds away One window into how dire things have become is in the market for its debt.
— Melvin Backman, Quartz, 13 Mar. 2024 -
Climate news can seem dire with little hope for a better world.
— Elizabeth Weise, USA TODAY, 21 Apr. 2023 -
The year started with dire predictions of a hyperactive season, quickly followed by the explosive and record-breaking landfall of Beryl in early July.
— Gabe Hauari, USA TODAY, 2 Oct. 2024
Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'dire.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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