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.
• 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
• Where things look more dire is in the race for the AFC’s top seed.
  — Andrew Gillis, cleveland, 24 Dec. 2022
• The effects that coups have on economies are no less dire.
  — Comfort Ero, Foreign Affairs, 12 Dec. 2023
• There’s no getting around the fact that it’s been a dire year for the planet.
  — Umair Irfan, Vox, 28 Dec. 2024
• 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 press is full of dire warnings that this could mean doom for the Voting Rights Act.
  — Evan Gerstmann, Forbes, 4 Oct. 2022
• Right now, the Reds are in dire need of their starters to provide more innings.
  — Charlie Goldsmith, The Enquirer, 17 Aug. 2022
• 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
• Though the conditions were sometimes dire, Loudon made the best of his time in Nome.
  — David Reamer, Anchorage Daily News, 18 Dec. 2022
• Here’s what to know about it and how to tell something more dire isn’t going on.
  — Katie Camero, SELF, 17 Oct. 2024
• 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
• This one is always a great option to keep in your purse or car for dire times.
  — Kaitlyn Yarborough, Southern Living, 21 Jan. 2023
• Both men seem resigned to a dire fate set forth by a country that failed them.
  — Andre Gee, Rolling Stone, 26 Oct. 2024
• But the region is also in dire need of more physicians.
  — Madeline Mitchell, The Enquirer, 10 May 2023
• Bored out of her mind, her life feels equally dire and absurd.
  — Ron Charles, Washington Post, 30 Aug. 2022
• But nowhere has the phenomenon been as dire as in New York.
  — Mihir Zaveri, New York Times, 23 Jan. 2023
• To hear the economists tell it, things are pretty dire.
  — James MacKintosh, WSJ, 4 Dec. 2022
• While some of the effects can be dire, the ocean does have some defense mechanisms in place.
  — Devika Rao, theweek, 10 Oct. 2024
• The dire need for permitting reform is news that stays news.
  — The Editorial Board, WSJ, 18 Aug. 2022
• Was there ever a question of ending the season on such a dire note?
  — Mark Peikert, IndieWire, 2 Oct. 2024
• But it’s a sham, and creates dire consequences for people caught in a web of fines and fees.
  — John Archibald | [e-mail], al, 19 Sep. 2022
• This looming financial burden is a significant part of the Saints' dire cap situation, with the team projected to be $54.1 million over the cap—by far the worst in the NFL.
  — Dan Perry, Newsweek, 13 Feb. 2025
• The blackouts have come alongside a dire economic situation in the country.
  — Max Saltman, CNN, 8 Feb. 2025

Last Updated: 7 Mar 2025